Career
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders
Run machines that mix and blend materials.
$48,990
Median pay
-6.1%
Job growth, 2025–35
7,900
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.
- Read work orders to determine production specifications or information.
- Observe production or monitor equipment to ensure safe and efficient operation.
- Mix or blend ingredients by starting machines and mixing for specified times.
- Stop mixing or blending machines when specified product qualities are obtained and open valves and start pumps to transfer mixtures.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Time Management.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $48,990 a year and 7,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$51,610 · -5.7%
- Food Batchmakers$42,290 · +6.5%
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders$43,530 · +3.4%
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$48,540 · -1.7%
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$45,760 · +1.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.