Vocational Index

Career

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

Run machines that mold and cast metal and plastic.

$44,350
Median pay
-3.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
13,800
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

  • Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
  • Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.
  • Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
  • Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times.
  • Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition-3.8%2025–35 edition-3.4%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 15,900 → 13,800 openings a year.

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Objects & tools
7.0
Information & systems
4.3
Ideas & analysis
2.3
Creation & expression
1.4
People & care
1.1
Persuasion & leadership
1.1

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?

“Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Operations Monitoring, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Operation and Control.

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 $44,350 a year and 13,800 openings nationally each year.

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

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.