Careers / Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$43,380
United States, 2025
Employment
61,420
United States, 2025
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Job Zone 2
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. May operate computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment.
- O*NET code
- 51-7042.00
- Job zone
- 2
- Experience required
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months
Typical tasks
- Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
- Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.
- Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
- Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
- Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.
- Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
- Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.
- Secure woodstock against a guide or in a holding device, place woodstock on a conveyor, or dump woodstock in a hopper to feed woodstock into machines.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$32,110
25th percentile
$37,100
75th percentile
$48,720
90th percentile
$56,830
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring3.6
- Operation and Control3.5
- Quality Control Analysis3.3
- Monitoring3.1
- Troubleshooting3.0
- Equipment Maintenance3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Equipment Selection2.9
- Repairing2.9
- Judgment and Decision Making2.9
- Active Listening2.9
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 8 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
8
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations Monitoring | 3.6 | 3.5 | Not selected | 3.5 |
| Operation and Control | 3.5 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.3 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Troubleshooting | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.1 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Speaking | 3.0 | 2.5 | Not selected | 2.5 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
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Compare with Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except SawingHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines, IA | $60,070 | 70 | 2025 |
| Longview, WA | $59,550 | 70 | 2025 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $56,950 | 320 | 2025 |
| Albany, OR | $56,180 | 110 | 2025 |
| Seattle, WA | $56,180 | 350 | 2025 |
| Bend, OR | $55,400 | 280 | 2025 |
| WA | $52,980 | 1,250 | 2025 |
| Medford, OR | $52,390 | 160 | 2025 |
| Spokane, WA | $51,730 | 110 | 2025 |
| MN | $51,540 | 710 | 2025 |
| IA | $51,200 | 1,100 | 2025 |
| Allentown, PA | $51,030 | 380 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $50,970 | 220 | 2025 |
| Bellingham, WA | $50,220 | 210 | 2025 |
| Hartford, CT | $50,000 | 40 | 2025 |
| Boulder, CO | $49,860 | 70 | 2025 |
| Portland, OR | $49,850 | 440 | 2025 |
| St. Cloud, MN | $49,790 | 40 | 2025 |
| NJ | $49,680 | 410 | 2025 |
| OR | $49,480 | 2,120 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.