Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders Salaries by State

Q: How much do furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders make in the U.S.?

The median furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders salary in the United States is $48,040 per year (mean $50,940), and about 80% earn between $35,960 and $69,800.

Q: How much do furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders make per hour?

Roughly $24 per hour, based on a mean annual wage of $50,940 and 2,080 work hours per year.

Q: Which state pays furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders the most?

Wyoming has the highest average pay for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders at $71,130 per year (median $62,130).

Q: What is the job outlook for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders?

Employment is projected to change +3% from 2024 to 2034 (About as fast as average), with about 1,900 openings per year.

Mean and median pay, wage percentiles, employment, and top-paying metro areas for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle 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 $50,940 ≈ $24/hr

National median salary $48,040

Total employment 14,280 nationwide

Job Outlook, 2024–2034

Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034.

Projected growth +3% About as fast as average

Annual openings 1,900 per year (avg)

Employment 2024→2034 16,500 → 17,000 (+500)

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 MT ND MN IL MI NY MA OR NV WY SD IA IN OH PA NJ CTRI 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 $41,000–$48,000 $48,000–$49,000 $49,000–$53,000 $53,000–$55,000 $55,000–$71,000 U.S. mean $50,940

💰 Top 5 Highest-Paying States

Wyoming$71,130
Kentucky$70,450
Maryland$63,660
Kansas$60,340
Illinois$59,960

📉 5 Lowest-Paying States

North Carolina$40,570
Nebraska$42,950
Oklahoma$43,390
Mississippi$43,460
Arizona$43,630

State Rankings

⇄ Compare specific states

#	State	Mean	Median	Hourly	vs. U.S.	Employment
1	Wyoming	$71,130	$62,130	$34	+39.6%	50
2	Kentucky	$70,450	$75,620	$34	+38.3%	240
3	Maryland	$63,660	$77,440	$31	+25%	100
4	Kansas	$60,340	$62,350	$29	+18.5%	210
5	Illinois	$59,960	$62,870	$29	+17.7%	230
6	Washington	$57,160	$58,580	$27	+12.2%	430
7	North Dakota	$56,710	$60,170	$27	+11.3%	70
8	Massachusetts	$56,400	$53,300	$27	+10.7%	120
9	Idaho	$55,990	$57,690	$27	+9.9%	120
10	Colorado	$55,420	$55,770	$27	+8.8%	100
11	Wisconsin	$54,540	$56,140	$26	+7.1%	210
12	New York	$54,510	$49,280	$26	+7%	490
13	Alabama	$54,500	$50,600	$26	+7%	1,090
14	New Jersey	$54,490	$52,440	$26	+7%	300
15	Oregon	$53,970	$50,820	$26	+5.9%	540
16	Indiana	$53,890	$48,770	$26	+5.8%	650
17	Minnesota	$53,420	$47,210	$26	+4.9%	100
18	Georgia	$52,890	$50,820	$25	+3.8%	870
19	Maine	$52,480	$48,060	$25	+3%	70
20	New Hampshire	$52,330	$49,250	$25	+2.7%	60
21	Pennsylvania	$52,260	$49,610	$25	+2.6%	410
22	South Dakota	$52,150	$48,200	$25	+2.4%	40
23	Virginia	$52,050	$49,650	$25	+2.2%	260
24	Missouri	$51,540	$49,470	$25	+1.2%	270
25	Vermont	$51,200	$52,560	$25	+0.5%	50
26	Louisiana	$50,970	$47,820	$25	+0.1%	120
27	Montana	$49,250	$53,250	$24	-3.3%	100
28	Texas	$49,190	$45,040	$24	-3.4%	780
29	Utah	$49,100	$45,610	$24	-3.6%	130
30	South Carolina	$48,210	$48,170	$23	-5.4%	300
31	Ohio	$48,170	$46,190	$23	-5.4%	1,580
32	Iowa	$48,150	$45,910	$23	-5.5%	100
33	California	$47,960	$45,300	$23	-5.9%	900
34	Michigan	$47,900	$47,410	$23	-6%	420
35	West Virginia	$47,760	$45,690	$23	-6.2%	80
36	Arkansas	$47,160	$43,560	$23	-7.4%	150
37	Tennessee	$46,800	$44,710	$23	-8.1%	640
38	Florida	$43,930	$42,400	$21	-13.8%	350
39	Arizona	$43,630	$44,530	$21	-14.4%	140
40	Mississippi	$43,460	$44,370	$21	-14.7%	370
41	Oklahoma	$43,390	$42,970	$21	-14.8%	370
42	Nebraska	$42,950	$41,650	$21	-15.7%	100
43	North Carolina	$40,570	$39,310	$20	-20.4%	530

Top-Paying Metro Areas

Highest median pay among 109 metro areas.

#	Metro area	Median	Mean	Employment
1	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$81,840	$73,660	70
2	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$81,530	$73,030	40
3	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$77,440	$67,710	70
4	Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area	$73,050	$64,470	40
5	Middle Georgia nonmetropolitan area	$72,900	$62,540	140
6	Longview-Kelso, WA	$69,070	$69,510	60
7	Savannah, GA	$66,390	$59,760	40
8	Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area	$64,630	$63,070	30
9	Vineland, NJ	$62,910	$60,910	60
10	Mid Michigan nonmetropolitan area	$62,470	$60,390	40

Pay by Industry

Highest-paying industries employing furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenderss (BLS OEWS, by median).

#	Industry	Median	Mean	Employment
1	Waste Management and Remediation Services	$71,610	$67,070	50
2	Mining (except Oil and Gas)	$68,260	$64,580	440
3	Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying	$68,260	$64,580	440
4	Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing	$66,020	$61,710	310
5	Paper Manufacturing	$65,530	$67,150	320
6	Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills	$65,530	$67,190	320
7	Sector 21 - Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	$65,040	$63,820	470
8	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	$62,530	$62,700	340
9	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	$62,530	$62,700	340
10	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing	$61,030	$59,500	50
11	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	$61,030	$59,500	50
12	Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	$60,170	$59,320	80

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

3,152

$10-20k

489

$20-30k

1,707

$30-40k

2,487

$40-50k

1,330

$50-60k

1,543

$60-70k

2,098

$70-80k

527

$80-90k

395

$90-100k

1,156

$100-110k

359

$110-120k

139

$120-130k

291

$130-140k

Pay by age band

16-24

$28,556

25-34

$50,219

35-44

$63,658

45-54

$53,926

55-64

$39,371

65+

$12,460

Education level

Regular high school diploma

$46,512

1 or more years of college credit, no degree

$42,014

Associates Degree

$41,857

Bachelors Degree

$51,723

Some college, but less than 1 year

$50,391

GED or alternative credential

$46,559

Grade 6

$58,321

Grade 10

$19,035

Masters Degree

$28,414

No schooling completed

$11,827

12th grade - no diploma

$32,971

Grade 11

$18,038

Grade 9

$32,726

Grade 2

$101,952

Grade 4

$56,073

Grade 8

$25,488

Full-time vs part-time

Full-time

11,493 · $57,351

Part-time

1,742 · $20,228

Race / ethnicity

White

$45,711

Two or More Races

$53,087

Black

$33,867

Other

$37,961

Asian

$12,923

American Indian

$44,117

Top fields of study

Communications

$30,683

Advertising And Public Relations

$8,360

General Business

$69,327

Miscellaneous Engineering Technologies

$122,342

Community And Public Health

$76,464

Criminal Justice And Fire Protection

$22,649

Marketing And Marketing Research

$82,853

Mathematics And Computer Science

$5,098

Top Skills

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

Operations Monitoring

3.9

Operation and Control

3.1

Active Listening

3.1

Monitoring

3.1

Reading Comprehension

3.1

Speaking

3.1

Critical Thinking

3.1

Quality Control Analysis

3.0

Writing

2.6

Coordination

2.5

Complex Problem Solving

2.4

Active Learning

2.4

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders make in the U.S.?

The median furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders salary in the United States is $48,040 per year (mean $50,940), and about 80% earn between $35,960 and $69,800.

How much do furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders make per hour?

Roughly $24 per hour, based on a mean annual wage of $50,940 and 2,080 work hours per year.

Which state pays furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders the most?

Wyoming has the highest average pay for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders at $71,130 per year (median $62,130).

What is the job outlook for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders?

Employment is projected to change +3% from 2024 to 2034 (About as fast as average), with about 1,900 openings per year.