Skip to content
uswages .org

Average Forging Machine Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic Salary in Colorado

Forging Machine Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic in Colorado earn a median annual salary of $57,970, which is +18.2% compared to the national median. There are 140 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Colorado (state).

$57,970
Colorado median annual wage
$28/hour median
+18.2%
Difference vs national median
National median is $49,030
140
Local employment
0.0 jobs per 1,000 workers
0.86
Location quotient
Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally
Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th
$39,900
25th
$47,010
Median
$57,970
75th
$62,480
90th
$67,310

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 Colorado, 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
103.1%
Exact state RPP match
Median wage adjusted to the national price level
$56,253
Goods: 98.7%
Services: 85.0%
Rents: 127.4%
Comparison links

Comparable states for this occupation

State Median annual wage Compare Employment
Oregon $69,210 Compare 30
Oklahoma $61,720 Compare N/A
Michigan $61,620 Compare 620
Nebraska $60,460 Compare 200
Wisconsin $60,310 Compare 80
California $59,250 Compare 750

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 Colorado

Occupation Median annual wage LQ
Orthodontists $416,000 1.35
Dermatologists $398,810 1.22
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $385,410 1.56
Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeons $360,820 N/A
Neurologists $356,250 0.62
Radiologists $344,270 1.01
Airline Pilots, Copilots, And Flight Engineers $307,490 3.05
General Internal Medicine Physicians $299,990 0.36

Colorado has salary data for 750 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Orthodontists.

Historical series

Trend for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic in Colorado

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

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Forging Machine Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic are projected to change by -18.9% from 2024 to 2034, with 600 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.