Career
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Run machines that roll metal and plastic.
$50,140
Median pay
-8.3%
Job growth, 2025–35
1,900
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
- Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.
- Adjust and correct machine set-ups to reduce thicknesses, reshape products, and eliminate product defects.
- Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
- Examine, inspect, and measure raw materials and finished products to verify conformance to specifications.
- Read rolling orders, blueprints, and mill schedules to determine setup specifications, work sequences, product dimensions, and installation procedures.
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?
“Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring.
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 $50,140 a year and 1,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Machine Tool Technology/MachinistCIP 48.0501
- Sheet Metal Technology/SheetworkingCIP 48.0506
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$46,570 · -0.9%
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,330 · -10.5%
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,550 · -10.8%
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$52,800 · -13.2%
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing$43,380 · -2.5%
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.