Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

51-5112 Printing Press Operators

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

National estimates for Printing Press Operators
Industry profile for Printing Press Operators
Geographic profile for Printing Press Operators

National estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
150,010	1.6 %	$ 20.55	$ 42,730	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 13.83	$ 16.24	$ 18.92	$ 23.48	$ 28.84
Annual Wage (2)	$ 28,760	$ 33,770	$ 39,350	$ 48,830	$ 59,980

Industry profile for Printing Press Operators:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Printing Press Operators are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Printing Press Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Printing and Related Support Activities	87,340	23.00	$ 20.70	$ 43,050
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	11,150	4.11	$ 23.56	$ 49,010
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	6,310	2.06	$ 21.00	$ 43,670
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	6,210	1.29	$ 18.23	$ 37,910
Employment Services	4,700	0.12	$ 15.75	$ 32,750

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Printing and Related Support Activities	87,340	23.00	$ 20.70	$ 43,050
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	11,150	4.11	$ 23.56	$ 49,010
Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	1,000	4.09	$ 18.25	$ 37,960
Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	290	2.58	$ 18.07	$ 37,590
Other Textile Product Mills	1,470	2.41	$ 16.00	$ 33,280

Top paying industries for Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	550	0.03	$ 52.29	$ 108,760
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	40	0.01	$ 38.15	$ 79,360
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	100	0.02	$ 30.06	$ 62,530
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	430	0.09	$ 28.73	$ 59,760
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	520	0.01	$ 26.86	$ 55,880

Geographic profile for Printing Press Operators:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Printing Press Operators are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Printing Press Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Map of employment of printing press operators by state, May 2022

States with the highest employment level in Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	12,370	0.70	0.69	$ 22.02	$ 45,800
Illinois	9,760	1.66	1.64	$ 19.91	$ 41,400
Texas	9,410	0.72	0.71	$ 19.25	$ 40,050
Ohio	8,350	1.55	1.53	$ 20.05	$ 41,700
Pennsylvania	8,180	1.41	1.39	$ 21.39	$ 44,500

Map of location quotient of printing press operators by state, May 2022

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Wisconsin	7,500	2.66	2.62	$ 21.97	$ 45,690
Kansas	2,790	2.02	1.99	$ 18.84	$ 39,180
Minnesota	5,380	1.90	1.88	$ 22.67	$ 47,160
Illinois	9,760	1.66	1.64	$ 19.91	$ 41,400
Nebraska	1,530	1.57	1.55	$ 19.94	$ 41,480

Map of annual mean wages of printing press operators by state, May 2022

Top paying states for Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	360	0.52	0.51	$ 46.11	$ 95,900
New Hampshire	800	1.21	1.19	$ 23.68	$ 49,250
New Jersey	3,730	0.91	0.89	$ 23.39	$ 48,640
Massachusetts	2,550	0.72	0.71	$ 22.99	$ 47,810
New York	7,380	0.81	0.80	$ 22.91	$ 47,650

Map of employment of printing press operators by area, May 2022

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Printing Press Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	7,680	1.74	1.72	$ 20.17	$ 41,960
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	6,400	0.70	0.69	$ 24.27	$ 50,480
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,010	0.99	0.97	$ 21.43	$ 44,580
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	3,840	2.04	2.01	$ 23.08	$ 48,010
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	3,710	0.98	0.96	$ 21.92	$ 45,590
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	3,110	1.14	1.12	$ 20.63	$ 42,920
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	2,810	1.01	1.00	$ 22.82	$ 47,470
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	2,590	3.23	3.18	$ 22.62	$ 47,050
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	2,190	2.06	2.03	$ 20.06	$ 41,720
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	2,080	0.93	0.92	$ 19.30	$ 40,130

Map of location quotient of printing press operators by area, May 2022

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Printing Press Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Lawrence, KS	530	10.80	10.65	$ 18.38	$ 38,230
Mankato-North Mankato, MN	330	6.14	6.06	$ 25.20	$ 52,410
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	550	5.98	5.89	$ 22.70	$ 47,220
Harrisonburg, VA	360	5.72	5.64	(8)	(8)
Gettysburg, PA	180	5.57	5.49	$ 22.67	$ 47,160
Green Bay, WI	880	5.23	5.16	$ 23.15	$ 48,150
Dalton, GA	300	4.64	4.57	$ 17.32	$ 36,030
Terre Haute, IN	280	4.41	4.35	$ 22.22	$ 46,230
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN	320	4.40	4.34	$ 20.20	$ 42,010
Ames, IA	190	4.17	4.11	$ 19.33	$ 40,200