Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary — Louisville, Kentucky

The average Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Louisville, Kentucky earns $39,940 a year.

$39,940 / year, mean
↓ 11.3% below national average 100th percentile in Kentucky

Louisville sits at the very top of the range for this role in Kentucky — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's noticeably below the national average for plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, worth factoring into any relocation math. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Kentucky

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
140
Estimate confidence
RSE 2.4%
Cost of living 93 #124 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 1461 #33 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $283,232 #114 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $71,737 #95 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Louisville ranks #124 for cost of living and #114 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

Seattle $57,770 Santa Rosa $53,630 San Jose $53,300 Portland $53,050 San Francisco $52,770 Jacksonville $52,190 Reading $51,710 Philadelphia $51,540 Spokane $50,970 Lancaster $50,560 Allentown $49,550 South Bend $48,310 Stockton $46,940 Baltimore $46,830 Los Angeles $46,620 San Diego $46,090 Scranton $46,010 Sacramento $45,640 Tampa $45,560 Pittsburgh $45,500 Riverside $45,240 Miami $44,730 Monroe $44,660 New York $44,110 Utica $44,070 Indianapolis $44,010 Buffalo $43,710 Oxnard $43,540 Rochester $43,250 Jackson $42,880 Chicago $42,680 Battle Creek $42,650 Elkhart $42,610 York $42,600 Ann Arbor $42,440 Austin $42,400 Rockford $42,070 Fort Wayne $41,880 Fresno $41,780 San Antonio $41,600 Lansing $41,260 Syracuse $41,030 Virginia Beach $40,910 Dallas $40,600 Houston $40,390 Muskegon $40,370 Detroit $40,120 Louisville $39,940 Niles $39,940 Grand Rapids $39,640 Huntington $39,520 Kalamazoo $39,370 Columbus $38,370 Erie $37,710 Lexington $31,300
CityMean salaryvs. Louisville
Allentown, Pennsylvania$49,550+24.1%
Ann Arbor, Michigan$42,440+6.3%
Austin, Texas$42,400+6.2%
Baltimore, Maryland$46,830+17.3%
Battle Creek, Michigan$42,650+6.8%
Buffalo, New York$43,710+9.4%
Chicago, Illinois$42,680+6.9%
Columbus, Indiana$38,370-3.9%
Dallas, Texas$40,600+1.7%
Detroit, Michigan$40,120+0.5%
Elkhart, Indiana$42,610+6.7%
Erie, Pennsylvania$37,710-5.6%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$41,880+4.9%
Fresno, California$41,780+4.6%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$39,640-0.8%
Houston, Texas$40,390+1.1%
Huntington, West Virginia$39,520-1.1%
Indianapolis, Indiana$44,010+10.2%
Jackson, Michigan$42,880+7.4%
Jacksonville, Florida$52,190+30.7%
Kalamazoo, Michigan$39,370-1.4%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$50,560+26.6%
Lansing, Michigan$41,260+3.3%
Lexington, Kentucky$31,300-21.6%
Los Angeles, California$46,620+16.7%
Miami, Florida$44,730+12.0%
Monroe, Michigan$44,660+11.8%
Muskegon, Michigan$40,370+1.1%
New York, New York$44,110+10.4%
Niles, Michigan$39,940+0.0%
Oxnard, California$43,540+9.0%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$51,540+29.0%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$45,500+13.9%
Portland, Oregon$53,050+32.8%
Reading, Pennsylvania$51,710+29.5%
Riverside, California$45,240+13.3%
Rochester, New York$43,250+8.3%
Rockford, Illinois$42,070+5.3%
Sacramento, California$45,640+14.3%
San Antonio, Texas$41,600+4.2%
San Diego, California$46,090+15.4%
San Francisco, California$52,770+32.1%
San Jose, California$53,300+33.5%
Santa Rosa, California$53,630+34.3%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$46,010+15.2%
Seattle, Washington$57,770+44.6%
South Bend, Indiana$48,310+21.0%
Spokane, Washington$50,970+27.6%
Stockton, California$46,940+17.5%
Syracuse, New York$41,030+2.7%
Tampa, Florida$45,560+14.1%
Utica, New York$44,070+10.3%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$40,910+2.4%
York, Pennsylvania$42,600+6.7%

This metro area spans more than one state — where you actually pay income tax depends on where you work, not just where BLS assigns the area. Choose your work state:

Gross salary
39,940/yr
Estimated take-home
32,113/yr
Est. total withheld
19.6%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2026 rates, for whichever state you select above. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional.

View cost of living in this state All Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salaries in Kentucky → All Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 51-4193 SOC code
Official area Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 31140 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: ky_dor_verificado 2026
Metro also includes
Jefferson County
Multi-state area: KY;IN
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Kentucky

Population (metro area)
1,361,847