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Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Washington

Thinking about a career as a Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Washington? Here’s what the data says. Set up, operate, or tend machines to crush, grind, or polish materials, such as coal, glass, grain, stone, food, or rubber.

What do Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Make in Washington?

For crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders working in Washington, wages run about $49,920 per year (or about $24.00/hour).Pay can range from $40,810 at the 10th percentile to $83,710 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$40,810	$19.62
25th percentile	$43,260	$20.80
Median (50th)	$49,920	$24.00
75th percentile	$67,870	$32.63
90th percentile	$83,710	$40.24

The job concentration index in Washington relative to the national average — is 0.76, indicating fewer crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders per worker than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn a median of $39,452 per year ($18.97/hour), higher than the Washington median.

Employment Outlook

National employment for 215,085 crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders across the United States. In Washington alone, around 500 people work in this role. That’s higher than the typical state, which employs around 480 crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders.

Top Washington Metros for Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

The metro areas below employ the most crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Washington.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	300	$48,280
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	30	$49,540

Top States for Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Employment

These states have the highest employment of crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders work.

State	Number Employed
California	2,510
Iowa	1,970
Tennessee	1,460
Texas	1,400
Ohio	1,300
Indiana	1,250
Pennsylvania	1,120
New York	1,050
Georgia	970
Michigan	880
Colorado	850
Massachusetts	730
Missouri	710
North Carolina	700
Arkansas	640
Virginia	640
Florida	620
Alabama	600
Minnesota	580
Oregon	520

Highest-Paying States for Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

These states pay the most for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders.

State	Annual Median Salary
Wyoming	$76,350
Alaska	$66,570
Nevada	$63,960
Iowa	$60,210
Minnesota	$58,150
West Virginia	$54,310
Vermont	$53,760
New York	$53,330
Maine	$52,880
Connecticut	$52,860

Skills

Top crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Key knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

Top abilities for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders typically:

• Observe operation of equipment to ensure continuity of flow, safety, and efficient operation, and to detect malfunctions.
• Clean, adjust, and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
• Tend accessory equipment, such as pumps and conveyors, to move materials or ingredients through production processes.
• Move controls to start, stop, or adjust machinery and equipment that crushes, grinds, polishes, or blends materials.
• Notify supervisors of needed repairs.
• Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products at specified intervals to ensure conformance to requirements.
• Record data from operations, testing, and production on specified forms.
• Reject defective products and readjust equipment to eliminate problems.
• Inspect chains, belts, or scrolls for signs of wear.
• Clean work areas.
• Examine materials, ingredients, or products, visually or with hands, to ensure conformance to established standards.
• Read work orders to determine production specifications and information.

Work Activities

• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Getting Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Processing Information

Tools & Technology

Software and systems commonly involved: Hot technologies: Microsoft Excel

Related Careers

Other careers like crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders include:

• Industrial Machinery Mechanics
• Maintenance Workers, Machinery
• Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Also Known As

Abrasive Grinder, Air Bag Buffer, Air Chipper, Automatic Blocker, Automatic Buffer, Automatic Corn Grinder Operator, Automatic Grinding Machine Operator, Automatic Pattern Edger, Back Grinder, Ball Truing Machine Operator, Bark Grinder, Barytes Grinder, Beater Engineer, Bed Rubber, Beveler.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-9021.00