---
title: "Printing Press Operator"
description: "Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/printing-press-operator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Printing Press Operator

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-5112 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-5112.00

Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.

Also advertised as: Digital Press Operator; Flexographic Press Operator; Offset Press Operator; Offset Pressman; Press Operator; Pressman; Printer; Printing Press Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $45,780 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.01/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $33,330 to $63,520, with the middle half between $37,390 and $55,740
- **Total US employment:** 144,260
- **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:** -8.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 12,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 63/100 — 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 144,260 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $33,330 |
| 25th | $37,390 |
| 50th (median) | $45,780 |
| 75th | $55,740 |
| 90th | $63,520 |
| Mean (average) | $47,360 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $116,630 | $106,123 | 350 |
| MA | $53,050 | $50,162 | 2,110 |
| NJ | $50,430 | $46,349 | 4,180 |
| WA | $49,800 | $46,536 | 2,310 |
| OR | $48,760 | $47,174 | 1,330 |
| MN | $48,560 | $49,239 | 4,960 |
| NH | $48,410 | $46,474 | 680 |
| KY | $48,000 | $53,239 | 2,470 |
| CO | $47,860 | $46,443 | 1,830 |
| NY | $47,860 | $44,347 | 6,700 |
| MD | $47,840 | $45,580 | 1,250 |
| ME | $47,430 | $48,872 | 300 |
| WI | $47,330 | $50,300 | 8,120 |
| PA | $47,010 | $48,180 | 7,150 |
| AR | $46,470 | $53,453 | 1,760 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/printing-press-operator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/printing-press-operator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 144,000 in the 2025–2035 base year to 131,400 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 12,600 jobs, or -8.7%. Declining: -8.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 12,100 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) | 73.2% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 19.5% |
| Some College Courses | 6.2% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 1.2% |

## What the work involves

- Verify that paper and ink meet the specifications for a given job.
- Collect and inspect random samples during print runs to identify any necessary adjustments.
- Examine job orders to determine quantities to be printed, stock specifications, colors, or special printing instructions.
- Start presses and pull proofs to check for ink coverage and density, alignment, and registration.
- Clean or oil presses or make minor repairs, using hand tools.
- Change press plates, blankets, or cylinders, as required.
- Load presses with paper and make necessary adjustments, according to paper size.
- Clean ink fountains, plates, or printing unit cylinders when press runs are completed.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.3 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
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — 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.

- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — 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 Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.43 |
| R — Realistic | 4.80 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.77 |
| A — Artistic | 1.74 |
| S — Social | 1.71 |
| I — Investigative | 1.18 |

### 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 | 86.9 |
| ISFJ | 81.9 |
| ESTJ | 78.3 |
| ESFJ | 65.6 |
| ISTP | 63.3 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISFJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Paper Goods Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paper-goods-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $50,270
- [Prepress Technician and Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/prepress-technician-and-worker) — median $48,690
- [Photographic Process Worker and Processing Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/photographic-process-worker-and-processing-machine-operator) — median $40,610
- [Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $46,460
- [Print Binding and Finishing Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/print-binding-and-finishing-worker) — median $42,290
- [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
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [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
- [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
- [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

## 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/printing-press-operator