Occupations · Production
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend paper goods machines that perform a variety of functions, such as converting, sawing, corrugating, banding, wrapping, boxing, stitching, forming, or sealing paper or paperboard sheets into products.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 51-9196.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 71% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $57,240 | 4,970 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $47,250 | 2,440 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $47,540 | 2,190 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $49,770 | 1,920 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $51,680 | 1,610 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Examine completed work to detect defects and verify conformance to work orders, and adjust machinery as necessary to correct production problems.
- Observe operation of various machines to detect and correct machine malfunctions such as improper forming, glue flow, or pasteboard tension.
- Install attachments to machines for gluing, folding, printing, or cutting.
- Cut products to specified dimensions, using hand or power cutters.
- Place rolls of paper or cardboard on machine feed tracks, and thread paper through gluing, coating, and slitting rollers.
- Monitor finished cartons as they drop from forming machines into rotating hoppers and into gravity feed chutes to prevent jamming.
- Adjust guide assemblies, forming bars, and folding mechanisms according to specifications, using hand tools.
- Start machines and move controls to regulate tension on pressure rolls, to synchronize speed of machine components, and to adjust temperatures of glue or paraffin.
- Fill glue and paraffin reservoirs, and position rollers to dispense glue onto paperboard.
- Measure, space, and set saw blades, cutters, and perforators, according to product specifications.
- Disassemble machines to maintain, repair, or replace broken or worn parts, using hand or power tools.
- Stamp products with information such as dates, using hand stamps or automatic stamping devices.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Word | 67 | 646 → 784 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Excel | 66 | 690 → 859 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Office software | 66 | 472 → 817 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2018-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2018-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning.
Now listed 6
No longer listed 5
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| paper machine operator | 8171.5 | close |
| paper bag machine operator | 8143.4 | broader |
| tissue paper perforating and rewinding operator | 8143.7 | broader |
| paper stationery machine operator | 8171.7 | broader |
| corrugator operator | 8143.2 | broader |
| print folding operator | 7323.4 | broader |
| envelope maker | 8143.3 | broader |
| absorbent pad machine operator | 8143.1 | broader |
| artisan papermaker | 7317.1 | broader |
| bindery operator | 7323.1 | broader |
| bleacher operator | 8171.1 | broader |
| paper pulp moulding operator | 8171.6 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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