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Foundry Mold and Coremakers: Career Overview

Make or form wax or sand cores or molds used in the production of metal castings in foundries.

The Daily Work of Foundry Mold and Coremakers Do?

The core tasks performed by foundry mold and coremakers include:

• Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.
• Sift and pack sand into mold sections, core boxes, and pattern contours, using hand or pneumatic ramming tools.
• Position patterns inside mold sections, and clamp sections together.
• Position cores into lower sections of molds, and reassemble molds for pouring.
• Sprinkle or spray parting agents onto patterns and mold sections to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
• Form and assemble slab cores around patterns, and position wire in mold sections to reinforce molds, using hand tools and glue.
• Move and position workpieces, such as mold sections, patterns, and bottom boards, using cranes, or signal others to move workpieces.
• Lift upper mold sections from lower sections, and remove molded patterns.

Key Skills and Knowledge

Effective foundry mold and coremakers draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Most Important Skills

The abilities most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Core Knowledge

Related Job Titles

This career also goes by job titles like:

• Airset Caster
• Airset Molder
• Bond Runner
• Core Baker
• Core Drier
• Core Machine Operator
• Core Maker
• Core Microarchitect

Employment and Demand

There are roughly 749,168 foundry mold and coremakers working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to grow by +4.6% over the projection horizon.

How Much Do Foundry Mold and Coremakers Make?

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$69,095
Hourly median	$33.22
10th percentile	$43,180
25th percentile	$56,137
75th percentile	$82,053
90th percentile	$95,010

Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.

How Much Do Foundry Mold and Coremakers Make in Different U.S. States?

State	Annual median salary
Oregon	$65,020
Missouri	$59,300
New York	$51,770
Georgia	$51,410
Connecticut	$50,990
Minnesota	$49,840
Massachusetts	$49,490
North Carolina	$49,040
Washington	$48,660
Illinois	$48,320
Indiana	$47,820
Ohio	$46,890
Virginia	$46,850
Nebraska	$46,780
Alabama	$45,720
Iowa	$45,700
Utah	$45,630
Colorado	$45,410
New Hampshire	$44,550
Michigan	$44,520
Wisconsin	$44,420
Tennessee	$43,150
Pennsylvania	$42,920
California	$42,790
Kansas	$42,160
Kentucky	$40,940
Mississippi	$39,370
Texas	$37,090
Arkansas	$37,020
Florida	$35,410
Oklahoma	$35,150
South Carolina	$35,070

Pay by U.S. Region

Pay for foundry mold and coremakers shift depending on where you work. These regions lead on median pay:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Plains States	$51,615	14.1%	3.05
New England	$49,555	2.9%	0.95
Far Western US	$49,118	9.2%	0.77
Great Lakes	$45,817	39.6%	3.36
Rocky Mountains	$45,542	1.2%	0.50
Southeast	$44,299	17.8%	1.95
Middle Atlantic	$44,238	11.7%	2.11
Southwest	$36,847	3.3%	0.32

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	OR	$65,020	200
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	WA	$60,650	90
St. Louis, MO-IL	MO	$59,350	460
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	NY	$54,190	60
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	MA	$51,100	80
New Haven, CT	CT	$50,990
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	CT	$50,270	50
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	NC	$50,000	50

Which Industries Hire Foundry Mold and Coremakers

The largest employers of foundry mold and coremakers work in these industries:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Manufacturing	12,460	$45,760
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	200	$36,060

Foundry Mold and Coremakers work in the following industries:

Tech Stack

• Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD (hot technology)
• Computer aided design CAD software: Dassault Systemes SolidWorks (hot technology)

What the Workplace Is Like

Daily working conditions for foundry mold and coremakers reflects the following characteristics:

• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets
• Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled
• Exposed to Contaminants
• Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures
• Spend Time Standing

How to Become Foundry Mold and Coremakers

Typical foundry mold and coremakers positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.

Similar Occupations

Similar Occupations

• Terrazzo Workers and Finishers (Supplemental)
• Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons (Primary-Short)
• Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters (Supplemental)
• Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators (Primary-Short)
• Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Primary-Long)
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Primary-Short)

Where to Study

Students preparing for foundry mold and coremakers often complete programs in:

Precision Production

1 programs across 1 majors

• Precision Metal Working

References

Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 51-4071.00 (Foundry Mold and Coremakers).