Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Salaries by State

Q: How much do food cooking machine operators and tenders make in the U.S.?

The median food cooking machine operators and tenders salary in the United States is $41,590 per year (mean $42,570), and about 80% earn between $31,680 and $54,410.

Q: How much do food cooking machine operators and tenders make per hour?

Roughly $20 per hour, based on a mean annual wage of $42,570 and 2,080 work hours per year.

Q: Which state pays food cooking machine operators and tenders the most?

Washington has the highest average pay for food cooking machine operators and tenders at $51,220 per year (median $51,100).

Q: What is the job outlook for food cooking machine operators and tenders?

Employment is projected to change +0.6% from 2024 to 2034 (Slower than average), with about 4,400 openings per year.

Mean and median pay, wage percentiles, employment, and top-paying metro areas for food cooking machine operators and tenderss across the U.S. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 (data.bls.gov OEWS tool /OESServices/combo/table, all-occupation crawl by area).

National mean salary $42,570 ≈ $20/hr

National median salary $41,590

Total employment 31,250 nationwide

Job Outlook, 2024–2034

Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034.

Projected growth +0.6% Slower than average

Annual openings 4,400 per year (avg)

Employment 2024→2034 29,700 → 29,900 (+200)

Typical entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Salary Map

Brighter tiles = higher average pay; dashed tiles have no data. Click a state for details.

AK ME WI VT NH WA ID MTND MN IL MI NY MA OR NV WY SD IA IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA UT CO NE MO KY WV VA MD DE AZ NM KS AR TN NC SC DC OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL

Mean annual wage $31,000–$38,000 $38,000–$42,000 $42,000–$44,000 $44,000–$47,000 $47,000–$51,000 U.S. mean $42,570

💰 Top 5 Highest-Paying States

Washington$51,220
Idaho$50,040
Colorado$48,680
Iowa$48,370
Michigan$48,070

📉 5 Lowest-Paying States

Alabama$31,310
Mississippi$31,660
Texas$34,570
Delaware$35,620
Nevada$36,790

State Rankings

⇄ Compare specific states

#	State	Mean	Median	Hourly	vs. U.S.	Employment
1	Washington	$51,220	$51,100	$25	+20.3%	310
2	Idaho	$50,040	$45,120	$24	+17.5%	790
3	Colorado	$48,680	$46,900	$23	+14.4%	300
4	Iowa	$48,370	$47,900	$23	+13.6%	850
5	Michigan	$48,070	$47,260	$23	+12.9%	380
6	Minnesota	$47,980	$47,250	$23	+12.7%	1,410
7	New York	$47,150	$45,680	$23	+10.8%	1,300
8	Tennessee	$46,920	$45,620	$23	+10.2%	1,820
9	Massachusetts	$46,640	$47,960	$22	+9.6%	170
10	California	$45,060	$44,740	$22	+5.8%	2,010
11	Nebraska	$45,030	$45,420	$22	+5.8%	670
12	Indiana	$44,770	$43,350	$22	+5.2%	540
13	Missouri	$44,440	$42,160	$21	+4.4%	620
14	Wisconsin	$44,400	$40,000	$21	+4.3%	850
15	Oregon	$44,390	$44,530	$21	+4.3%	570
16	Kansas	$44,300	$45,850	$21	+4.1%	750
17	Utah	$44,290	$48,620	$21	+4%	390
18	Kentucky	$43,720	$41,800	$21	+2.7%	300
19	Louisiana	$43,530	$44,440	$21	+2.3%	550
20	Ohio	$43,180	$41,160	$21	+1.4%	980
21	Pennsylvania	$42,850	$42,710	$21	+0.7%	1,580
22	Illinois	$42,590	$42,670	$20	+0%	2,460
23	Arizona	$42,190	$44,050	$20	-0.9%	560
24	Arkansas	$42,180	$40,480	$20	-0.9%	330
25	Maine	$42,170	$37,500	$20	-0.9%	170
26	Connecticut	$42,160	$38,880	$20	-1%	60
27	New Hampshire	$40,140	$40,440	$19	-5.7%	110
28	Georgia	$39,670	$38,440	$19	-6.8%	690
29	South Dakota	$39,480	$39,270	$19	-7.3%	120
30	Oklahoma	$39,240	$36,030	$19	-7.8%	1,140
31	South Carolina	$39,050	$38,220	$19	-8.3%	520
32	Florida	$38,140	$36,450	$18	-10.4%	970
33	North Carolina	$38,110	$39,070	$18	-10.5%	770
34	Maryland	$37,900	$36,960	$18	-11%	—
35	New Jersey	$37,880	$37,180	$18	-11%	430
36	Virginia	$37,650	$35,140	$18	-11.6%	510
37	Nevada	$36,790	$36,610	$18	-13.6%	—
38	Delaware	$35,620	$31,240	$17	-16.3%	—
39	Texas	$34,570	$33,980	$17	-18.8%	3,180
40	Mississippi	$31,660	$31,150	$15	-25.6%	110
41	Alabama	$31,310	$27,080	$15	-26.5%	250

Top-Paying Metro Areas

Highest median pay among 119 metro areas.

#	Metro area	Median	Mean	Employment
1	Cedar Rapids, IA	$63,690	$61,670	40
2	Central East New York nonmetropolitan area	$60,250	$54,770	100
3	Modesto, CA	$59,010	$63,280	140
4	Northwestern Idaho nonmetropolitan area	$58,480	$58,120	40
5	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$57,680	$51,070	80
6	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$57,490	$48,230	110
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$56,190	$54,550	190
8	Eastern Oregon nonmetropolitan area	$55,770	$52,990	70
9	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$55,270	$47,990	190
10	Northeast Maine nonmetropolitan area	$51,660	$48,610	30

Pay by Industry

Highest-paying industries employing food cooking machine operators and tenderss (BLS OEWS, by median).

#	Industry	Median	Mean	Employment
1	Grain and Oilseed Milling	$55,270	$56,260	350
2	Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging	$48,880	$49,900	60
3	Dairy Product Manufacturing	$48,780	$49,210	800
4	Other Food Manufacturing	$45,560	$44,190	6,930
5	Animal Slaughtering and Processing	$45,120	$43,050	5,710
6	Food Manufacturing	$43,410	$43,440	25,020
7	Sectors 31, 32, and 33 - Manufacturing	$43,410	$43,420	25,130
8	Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing	$41,830	$43,900	5,450
9	Cross-Industry, Private, Federal, State, and Local	$41,590	$42,570	31,250
10	Cross-industry, Private Ownership only	$41,590	$42,570	31,240
11	Animal Food Manufacturing	$40,170	$42,220	340
12	Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	$40,100	$42,260	1,210

Workforce Deep-Dive

Distribution and demographics from Census ACS (2023, self-reported). Wage figures here are ACS averages and run lower than the authoritative BLS wages above; use them for shape, not exact pay.

Annual wage distribution

< $10K

6,588

$10-20k

912

$20-30k

1,550

$30-40k

2,214

$40-50k

1,722

$50-60k

758

$60-70k

514

$70-80k

422

$80-90k

470

$90-100k

$100-110k

$200k+

Pay by age band

16-24

$9,654

25-34

$30,326

35-44

$29,321

45-54

$40,774

55-64

$19,495

65+

$52,710

Education level

Regular high school diploma

$29,832

1 or more years of college credit, no degree

$18,205

Some college, but less than 1 year

$28,235

Grade 11

$23,290

12th grade - no diploma

$19,482

Associates Degree

$10,211

Grade 9

$21,533

No schooling completed

$22,260

GED or alternative credential

$9,305

Bachelors Degree

$17,665

Grade 8

$15,504

Grade 6

$30,227

Masters Degree

$66,269

Grade 10

$11,724

Professional degree

$21,410

Full-time vs part-time

Full-time

7,494 · $42,820

Part-time

2,959 · $14,172

Race / ethnicity

White

$25,384

Black

$28,788

Two or More Races

$11,212

Other

$35,541

Asian

$15,930

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

$38,009

American Indian

$21,132

Top fields of study

Elementary Education

$66,269

Multi Disciplinary Or General Science

$30,586

English Language And Literature

$816

Humanities

$21,410

General Business

—

General Education

$20,390

Fine Arts

$12,234

Top Skills

Most important skills for this role (O*NET importance, 1–5 scale).

Operations Monitoring

3.5

Monitoring

3.1

Operation and Control

3.1

Reading Comprehension

3.1

Active Listening

3.0

Critical Thinking

3.0

Coordination

2.9

Complex Problem Solving

2.9

Writing

2.8

Judgment and Decision Making

2.8

Quality Control Analysis

2.8

Speaking

2.6

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do food cooking machine operators and tenders make in the U.S.?

The median food cooking machine operators and tenders salary in the United States is $41,590 per year (mean $42,570), and about 80% earn between $31,680 and $54,410.

How much do food cooking machine operators and tenders make per hour?

Roughly $20 per hour, based on a mean annual wage of $42,570 and 2,080 work hours per year.

Which state pays food cooking machine operators and tenders the most?

Washington has the highest average pay for food cooking machine operators and tenders at $51,220 per year (median $51,100).

What is the job outlook for food cooking machine operators and tenders?

Employment is projected to change +0.6% from 2024 to 2034 (Slower than average), with about 4,400 openings per year.