---
title: "Packaging and Filling Machine Operator and Tender"
description: "Operate or tend machines to prepare industrial or consumer products for storage or shipment. Includes cannery workers who pack food products."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Packaging and Filling Machine Operator and Tender

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-9111 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-9111.00

Operate or tend machines to prepare industrial or consumer products for storage or shipment. Includes cannery workers who pack food products.

Also advertised as: Bundler; Closing Machine Operator; Computer Numerical Control Machine Operator (CNC Machine Operator); Filler Operator; Machine Operator; Packaging Operator; Packing Attendant; Packing Machine Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $43,220 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $20.78/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $33,390 to $60,030, with the middle half between $36,850 and $49,070
- **Total US employment:** 379,060
- **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:** +4.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 41,400 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 379,060 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $33,390 |
| 25th | $36,850 |
| 50th (median) | $43,220 |
| 75th | $49,070 |
| 90th | $60,030 |
| Mean (average) | $44,590 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NH | $49,450 | $47,473 | 620 |
| WY | $48,890 | $52,745 | 360 |
| MO | $48,070 | $52,931 | 12,620 |
| ME | $47,970 | $49,428 | 1,490 |
| ND | $47,390 | $53,272 | 760 |
| ID | $46,720 | $48,925 | 3,950 |
| VT | $46,670 | $47,643 | 880 |
| WV | $46,410 | $51,856 | 810 |
| NE | $46,220 | $51,297 | 4,410 |
| WI | $46,220 | $49,121 | 16,150 |
| CO | $46,010 | $44,647 | 4,760 |
| IA | $45,660 | $52,027 | 6,990 |
| KY | $45,450 | $50,411 | 8,640 |
| OR | $45,180 | $43,711 | 5,370 |
| VA | $44,950 | $44,459 | 6,150 |

36 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 51 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 377,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 393,300 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 15,600 jobs, or +4.1%. About as fast as average: 4.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 41,400 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) | 79.7% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 17.3% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 2.2% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 0.8% |

## What the work involves

- Remove finished packaged items from machine and separate rejected items.
- Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
- Inspect and remove defective products and packaging material.
- Stock and sort product for packaging or filling machine operation, and replenish packaging supplies, such as wrapping paper, plastic sheet, boxes, cartons, glue, ink, or labels.
- Stack finished packaged items, or wrap protective material around each item, and pack the items in cartons or containers.
- Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
- Observe machine operations to ensure quality and conformity of filled or packaged products to standards.
- Start machine by engaging controls.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — 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
- Speaking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.1 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 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — 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 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Perceptual Speed — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — 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 | 6.63 |
| C — Conventional | 4.91 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.84 |
| I — Investigative | 1.37 |
| S — Social | 1.02 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### 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 | 89.3 |
| ESTJ | 78.0 |
| ISFJ | 76.8 |
| ISTP | 71.7 |
| INTJ | 61.4 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Packer and Packager, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/packer-and-packager-hand) — median $36,280
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $46,460
- [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
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [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
- [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
- [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
- [Mixing and Blending Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mixing-and-blending-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $48,990

## 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/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender