---
title: "Extruding and Forming Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Synthetic and Glass Fiber"
description: "Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form continuous filaments from synthetic materials, such as liquid polymer, rayon, and fiberglass."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Extruding and Forming Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Synthetic and Glass Fiber

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-6091 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-6091.00

Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form continuous filaments from synthetic materials, such as liquid polymer, rayon, and fiberglass.

Also advertised as: Extruder; Extruder Operator; Extrusion Line Operator; Extrusion Operator; Granulator; Hot End Operator; Pelletizer Operator; Pot Tipper.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,350 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.29/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $35,890 to $63,910, with the middle half between $39,360 and $57,280
- **Total US employment:** 12,850
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 46/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 12,850 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $35,890 |
| 25th | $39,360 |
| 50th (median) | $46,350 |
| 75th | $57,280 |
| 90th | $63,910 |
| Mean (average) | $48,580 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OH | $61,440 | $66,225 | 380 |
| AL | $60,100 | $67,663 | 930 |
| IN | $57,200 | $61,289 | 390 |
| PA | $55,960 | $57,353 | 490 |
| MN | $52,600 | $53,335 | 410 |
| MD | $50,790 | $48,390 | Not published by BLS |
| KS | $50,320 | $55,869 | 320 |
| MI | $49,180 | $51,114 | 180 |
| MO | $48,810 | $53,745 | 70 |
| IA | $48,400 | $55,149 | 100 |
| AR | $47,770 | $54,948 | 90 |
| TX | $46,970 | $48,394 | 520 |
| TN | $46,200 | $50,288 | 320 |
| GA | $45,360 | $47,106 | 2,530 |
| CA | $45,290 | $40,905 | 330 |

9 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 24 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 13,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 13,000 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 400 jobs, or -3.3%. Declining: -3.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 74.1% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 19.4% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 6.5% |

## What the work involves

- Press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions are detected.
- Record details of machine malfunctions.
- Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines.
- Observe machine operations, control boards, and gauges to detect malfunctions such as clogged bushings and defective binder applicators.
- Move controls to activate and adjust extruding and forming machines.
- Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools.
- Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form filaments from synthetic materials such as rayon, fiberglass, or liquid polymers.
- Load materials into extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and adjust feed mechanisms to set feed rates.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Finger Dexterity — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.50 |
| C — Conventional | 4.05 |
| I — Investigative | 2.21 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.41 |
| A — Artistic | 1.27 |
| S — Social | 1.22 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 89.2 |
| ISTP | 77.0 |
| ISFJ | 74.1 |
| ESTJ | 73.0 |
| INTJ | 66.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Extruding and Drawing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-drawing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $47,720
- [Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-forming-pressing-and-compacting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $45,760
- [Paper Goods Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paper-goods-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $50,270
- [Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molding-coremaking-and-casting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $44,350
- [Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $46,460
- [Rolling Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rolling-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $50,140
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [Multiple Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/multiple-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $47,180
- [Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $50,620
- [Milling and Planing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/milling-and-planing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $52,800

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber