---
title: "Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic"
description: "Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/molding-coremaking-and-casting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-4072 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-4072.00

Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.

Also advertised as: Core Machine Operator; Die Cast Technician; Diecast Machine Operator; Machine Operator; Mold Setter; Mold Technician; Molder; Process Technician.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $44,350 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $21.32/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,170 to $61,600, with the middle half between $37,270 and $51,020
- **Total US employment:** 150,470
- **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:** -3.8% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 15,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 49/100 — 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 150,470 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,170 |
| 25th | $37,270 |
| 50th (median) | $44,350 |
| 75th | $51,020 |
| 90th | $61,600 |
| Mean (average) | $45,960 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HI | $77,560 | $70,541 | 140 |
| MD | $63,460 | $60,462 | 230 |
| ME | $59,230 | $61,030 | 470 |
| MN | $49,590 | $50,283 | 2,230 |
| NV | $49,590 | $49,600 | 350 |
| NE | $48,500 | $53,827 | 1,000 |
| WA | $48,290 | $45,125 | 1,800 |
| CO | $48,200 | $46,773 | 2,160 |
| ND | $47,780 | $53,710 | 160 |
| NH | $47,610 | $45,706 | 1,080 |
| CA | $47,240 | $42,666 | 9,250 |
| KY | $47,110 | $52,252 | 4,340 |
| AZ | $46,930 | $46,614 | 1,430 |
| PA | $46,760 | $47,924 | 7,000 |
| UT | $46,750 | $47,287 | 2,400 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/molding-coremaking-and-casting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/molding-coremaking-and-casting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 154,600 in the 2024–2034 base year to 148,800 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 5,800 jobs, or -3.8%. Declining: -3.8% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 15,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## 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 | 57.0% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 30.3% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 11.2% |
| Some College Courses | 1.6% |

## What the work involves

- Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.
- Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
- Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times.
- Remove parts, such as dies, from machines after production runs are finished.
- Observe meters and gauges to verify and record temperatures, pressures, and press-cycle times.
- Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences.
- Perform maintenance work such as cleaning and oiling machines.
- Connect water hoses to cooling systems of dies, using hand tools.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — 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 3.4 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 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.3 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 | 6.97 |
| C — Conventional | 4.28 |
| I — Investigative | 2.28 |
| A — Artistic | 1.35 |
| S — Social | 1.08 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.08 |

### 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 | 88.9 |
| ISTP | 77.7 |
| ISFJ | 73.8 |
| ESTJ | 71.4 |
| INTJ | 66.9 |

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.

- [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
- [Molder, Shaper, and Caster, Except Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molder-shaper-and-caster) — median $46,170
- [Extruding and Forming Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Synthetic and Glass Fiber](https://nuecareer.com/careers/extruding-and-forming-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-synthetic-and-glass-fiber) — median $46,350
- [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
- [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
- [Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forging-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $49,030
- [Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $46,330
- [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
- [Tool and Die Maker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tool-and-die-maker) — median $64,050
- [Heat Treating Equipment Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/heat-treating-equipment-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $48,750

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 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, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 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 30.3 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/molding-coremaking-and-casting-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic