Average Drilling And Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic Salary in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Drilling And Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic in Chattanooga, TN-GA earn a median annual salary of $41,810, which is -14.8% compared to the national median. There are 60 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Chattanooga, TN-GA (metro area).

$41,810

Chattanooga, TN-GA median annual wage

$20/hour median

-14.8%

Difference vs national median

National median is $49,080

Local employment

0.2 jobs per 1,000 workers

7.88

Location quotient

Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally

Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th: $41,060
25th: $41,810
Median: $41,810
75th: $46,480
90th: $46,480

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Chattanooga, TN-GA, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity

91.5%

Exact metro RPP match

Median wage adjusted to the national price level

$45,712

Goods: 96.0%
Services: 74.2%
Rents: 76.5%

Comparison links

Comparable metros for this occupation

Metro	Median annual wage	Compare	Employment
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,120	Compare	60
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$63,320	Compare	80
Tulsa, OK	$58,210	Compare	180
Peoria, IL	$56,840	Compare	70
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$52,260	Compare	70
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$51,740	Compare	N/A

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Occupation	Median annual wage	LQ
Cardiologists	$610,080	1.35
Physicians, All Other	$429,900	0.56
General Internal Medicine Physicians	$291,200	0.70
Family Medicine Physicians	$264,690	0.47
Chief Executives	$209,990	1.25
Architectural And Engineering Managers	$163,720	0.98
Pediatricians, General	$163,320	N/A
Dentists, General	$160,620	0.91

Chattanooga, TN-GA has salary data for 472 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Cardiologists.

Historical series

Trend for Drilling And Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Drilling And Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic are projected to change by -19.6% from 2024 to 2034, with 400 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.