Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in Chicago, Illinois earns $44,790 a year.

$44,790 / year, mean
↑ 1.2% above national average 100th percentile in Illinois

Chicago sits at the very top of the range for this role in Illinois — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's close to the national average for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing — a fairly typical rate for this role. 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 Illinois

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
920
Estimate confidence
RSE 2.1%
Cost of living 104 #31 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 1770 #92 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $353,998 #78 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $88,850 #28 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Chicago ranks #31 for cost of living and #78 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.

Longview $57,100 Seattle $54,350 Albany $53,640 Bend $53,460 New York $53,260 San Francisco $52,980 Medford $52,380 Allentown $51,870 Bellingham $51,660 Spokane $51,520 Portland $50,860 Salem $49,320 Santa Rosa $48,960 Philadelphia $48,820 Redding $47,960 Eugene $47,560 Sacramento $47,330 Grand Rapids $47,300 Lancaster $47,170 Kiryas Joel $47,100 Reading $47,070 Deltona $46,990 York $46,580 Detroit $46,550 Baltimore $46,520 Buffalo $46,350 Jacksonville $46,250 Harrisburg $46,060 San Diego $45,980 Lansing $45,960 Chico $45,870 Los Angeles $45,630 Muskegon $45,450 Riverside $45,370 Elkhart $45,120 Port St. Lucie $44,990 Chicago $44,790 Louisville $44,740 Stockton $44,720 Hagerstown $44,590 Sarasota $44,560 Oxnard $44,440 Pittsburgh $44,310 Modesto $44,210 Rochester $43,950 South Bend $43,400 Springfield $43,380 Niles $43,280 Miami $43,150 Yuba City $43,150 Indianapolis $43,050 Altoona $42,740 Rockford $42,120 Scranton $42,110 Fort Wayne $41,960 Syracuse $41,840 Williamsport $41,670 Fresno $41,230 Lexington $41,140 Terre Haute $41,070 Palm Bay $40,800 Roanoke $40,510 Orlando $40,230 Kankakee $39,940 Virginia Beach $39,880 Albany $39,560 Kalamazoo $39,500 Erie $39,170 Dallas $38,780 Tampa $38,300 Richmond $38,020 Lakeland $37,710 Houston $36,260 San Antonio $34,990 Longview $29,710
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Albany, Oregon$53,640+19.8%
Albany, New York$39,560-11.7%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$51,870+15.8%
Altoona, Pennsylvania$42,740-4.6%
Baltimore, Maryland$46,520+3.9%
Bellingham, Washington$51,660+15.3%
Bend, Oregon$53,460+19.4%
Buffalo, New York$46,350+3.5%
Chico, California$45,870+2.4%
Dallas, Texas$38,780-13.4%
Deltona, Florida$46,990+4.9%
Detroit, Michigan$46,550+3.9%
Elkhart, Indiana$45,120+0.7%
Erie, Pennsylvania$39,170-12.5%
Eugene, Oregon$47,560+6.2%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$41,960-6.3%
Fresno, California$41,230-7.9%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$47,300+5.6%
Hagerstown, Maryland$44,590-0.4%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$46,060+2.8%
Houston, Texas$36,260-19.0%
Indianapolis, Indiana$43,050-3.9%
Jacksonville, Florida$46,250+3.3%
Kalamazoo, Michigan$39,500-11.8%
Kankakee, Illinois$39,940-10.8%
Kiryas Joel, New York$47,100+5.2%
Lakeland, Florida$37,710-15.8%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$47,170+5.3%
Lansing, Michigan$45,960+2.6%
Lexington, Kentucky$41,140-8.1%
Longview, Texas$29,710-33.7%
Longview, Washington$57,100+27.5%
Los Angeles, California$45,630+1.9%
Louisville, Kentucky$44,740-0.1%
Medford, Oregon$52,380+16.9%
Miami, Florida$43,150-3.7%
Modesto, California$44,210-1.3%
Muskegon, Michigan$45,450+1.5%
New York, New York$53,260+18.9%
Niles, Michigan$43,280-3.4%
Sarasota, Florida$44,560-0.5%
Orlando, Florida$40,230-10.2%
Oxnard, California$44,440-0.8%
Palm Bay, Florida$40,800-8.9%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$48,820+9.0%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$44,310-1.1%
Portland, Oregon$50,860+13.6%
Port St. Lucie, Florida$44,990+0.4%
Reading, Pennsylvania$47,070+5.1%
Redding, California$47,960+7.1%
Richmond, Virginia$38,020-15.1%
Riverside, California$45,370+1.3%
Roanoke, Virginia$40,510-9.6%
Rochester, New York$43,950-1.9%
Rockford, Illinois$42,120-6.0%
Sacramento, California$47,330+5.7%
Salem, Oregon$49,320+10.1%
San Antonio, Texas$34,990-21.9%
San Diego, California$45,980+2.7%
San Francisco, California$52,980+18.3%
Santa Rosa, California$48,960+9.3%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$42,110-6.0%
Seattle, Washington$54,350+21.3%
South Bend, Indiana$43,400-3.1%
Spokane, Washington$51,520+15.0%
Springfield, Illinois$43,380-3.1%
Stockton, California$44,720-0.2%
Syracuse, New York$41,840-6.6%
Tampa, Florida$38,300-14.5%
Terre Haute, Indiana$41,070-8.3%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$39,880-11.0%
Williamsport, Pennsylvania$41,670-7.0%
York, Pennsylvania$46,580+4.0%
Yuba City, California$43,150-3.7%

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
44,790/yr
Estimated take-home
36,093/yr
Est. total withheld
19.4%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2025 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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing salaries in Illinois → All Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

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

Occupation 51-7042 SOC code
Official area Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 16980 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: il_idor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
NapervilleElgin
Multi-state area: IL;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: Illinois

Population (metro area)
9,359,555