Occupational Employment Statistics

DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

51-7042 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Occupational Description:
Set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. May operate CNC equipment.

Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Wage Data
First Quarter 2026

Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Minnesota	710	127	$25.94/hr	$22.51/hr	$23.95/hr	$25.35/hr	$28.52/hr	$29.56/hr

Leading Industries for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Industry	OES Employment (Statewide)	OES Median Wage (Statewide)
Manufacturing	710	$25.35/hr
Professional and Business Services	N/A	N/A

Other Regional Data for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Geography	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Southwest Minnesota	N/A	N/A	N/A
Duluth MN-WI MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northeast Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southwest Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grand Forks ND-MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mankato-North Mankato MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rochester MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
St Cloud MN MSA	40	$24.49/hr	N/A
La Crosse WI-MN MSA	70	$23.49/hr	N/A
Northeast Minnesota	80	$25.26/hr	-6.5%
Southeast Balance of State	90	$24.07/hr	N/A
Northwest Minnesota	110	$25.26/hr	N/A
Southeast Minnesota	110	$24.12/hr	7.7%
Northwest Balance of State	110	$25.26/hr	N/A
Central Minnesota	120	$27.42/hr	7.9%
Fargo ND-MN MSA	130	$22.88/hr	N/A
Seven County Mpls-St Paul, MN	230	$27.87/hr	N/A
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA	320	$28.00/hr	N/A
Minnesota	710	$25.35/hr	5.1%

Related Occupations

Occupations	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	6,130	$24.48/hr	-3.5%
Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	100	$20.39/hr	-4.2%
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood	500	$25.24/hr	3.2%
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	1,130	$28.65/hr	1.9%
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,400	$25.47/hr	-4.0%
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	220	$27.15/hr	N/A
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	2,230	$24.38/hr	0.6%
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	9,270	$29.64/hr	6.1%
Machinists	12,500	$30.06/hr	7.6%
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	670	$28.30/hr	-4.6%

Task for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
Inspect pulleys, drive belts, guards, or fences on machines to ensure that machines will operate safely.
Operate gluing machines to glue pieces of wood together, or to press and affix wood veneer to wood surfaces.
Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.
Inspect and mark completed workpieces and stack them on pallets, in boxes, or on conveyors so that they can be moved to the next workstation.
Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.
Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.
Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.