---
title: "Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operator and Tender"
description: "Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-and-tobacco-roasting-baking-and-drying-machine-operator-and-tender"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operator and Tender

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-3091 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-3091.00

Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.

Also advertised as: Bean Roaster; Coffee Roaster; Line Operator; Machine Operator; Oven Operator; Oven Technician; Roast Master; Roaster.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $44,810 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $21.54/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $33,250 to $62,680, with the middle half between $37,540 and $50,680
- **Total US employment:** 20,370
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +0.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,500 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 50/100 — 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 20,370 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $33,250 |
| 25th | $37,540 |
| 50th (median) | $44,810 |
| 75th | $50,680 |
| 90th | $62,680 |
| Mean (average) | $45,930 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ND | $77,300 | $86,894 | 30 |
| MD | $60,170 | $57,327 | 200 |
| CO | $59,590 | $57,825 | 500 |
| VA | $59,260 | $58,613 | 270 |
| AK | $55,280 | $54,006 | 30 |
| NV | $54,950 | $54,962 | 130 |
| WA | $50,590 | $47,275 | 720 |
| MN | $50,340 | $51,044 | 1,120 |
| ME | $50,220 | $51,747 | 100 |
| PA | $49,660 | $50,896 | 540 |
| NY | $49,020 | $45,422 | 1,370 |
| WI | $48,560 | $51,607 | 540 |
| KY | $48,540 | $53,838 | 340 |
| ID | $48,250 | $50,527 | 430 |
| MI | $48,240 | $50,137 | 700 |

29 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 44 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-and-tobacco-roasting-baking-and-drying-machine-operator-and-tender/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/food-and-tobacco-roasting-baking-and-drying-machine-operator-and-tender.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 21,600 in the 2025–2035 base year to 21,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 100 jobs, or +0.4%. Slower than average: 0.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,500 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:** No formal educational credential (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) | 60.8% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 22.8% |
| Some College Courses | 10.8% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 5.7% |

## What the work involves

- Record production data, such as weight and amount of product processed, type of product, and time and temperature of processing.
- Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards.
- Observe flow of materials and listen for machine malfunctions, such as jamming or spillage, and notify supervisors if corrective actions fail.
- Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain prescribed operating conditions for specific stages.
- Weigh or measure products, using scale hoppers or scale conveyors.
- Signal coworkers to synchronize flow of materials.
- Read work orders to determine quantities and types of products to be baked, dried, or roasted.
- Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.5 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 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 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
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Food Production — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Category Flexibility — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Perceptual Speed — importance 3.1 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 | 6.86 |
| C — Conventional | 4.16 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.83 |
| I — Investigative | 1.60 |
| S — Social | 1.26 |
| A — Artistic | 1.11 |

### 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 | 87.5 |
| ESTJ | 75.5 |
| ISFJ | 74.4 |
| ISTP | 73.3 |
| INTJ | 61.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

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

- [Food Batchmaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-batchmaker) — median $42,290
- [Food Cooking Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-cooking-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $41,590
- [Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/separating-filtering-clarifying-precipitating-and-still-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $51,610
- [Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furnace-kiln-oven-drier-and-kettle-operator-and-tender) — median $48,040
- [Grader and Sorter, Agricultural Products](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grader-and-sorter-agricultural-products) — median $35,730
- [Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cooling-and-freezing-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $41,330
- [Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cleaning-washing-and-metal-pickling-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $43,530
- [Mixing and Blending Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mixing-and-blending-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $48,990
- [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
- [Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/crushing-grinding-and-polishing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $48,540

## 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/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **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/food-and-tobacco-roasting-baking-and-drying-machine-operator-and-tender