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Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders in Illinois

Considering working as a Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders in Illinois? Here’s what the data says. Operate or tend furnaces, such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces, to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel. Excludes “Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic” (51-4191).

What do Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders Make in Illinois?

For metal-refining furnace operators and tenders working in Illinois, the median annual wage is $54,200 per year (or about $26.06/hour).Earnings range from $37,590 at the 10th percentile to $67,330 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$37,590	$18.07
25th percentile	$48,630	$23.38
Median (50th)	$54,200	$26.06
75th percentile	$61,280	$29.46
90th percentile	$67,330	$32.37

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in Illinois compared to the national average — is 0.42, suggesting fewer metal-refining furnace operators and tenders per worker than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, metal-refining furnace operators and tenders earn a median of $40,136 per year ($19.30/hour), exceeding the Illinois median.

Employment Outlook

National employment for 66,489 metal-refining furnace operators and tenders across the United States. In Illinois alone, about 330 people work in this role. That puts the state above the typical state, which employs around 280 metal-refining furnace operators and tenders.

Top Illinois Metros for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

The largest metro-area employers of metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in Illinois.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	2,240	$86,300

Top States for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders Employment

These states have the highest employment of metal-refining furnace operators and tenders work.

State	Number Employed
Indiana	3,560
Ohio	2,240
Pennsylvania	2,240
Tennessee	1,190
Alabama	910
Michigan	860
New York	750
Kentucky	690
Florida	620
Wisconsin	590
Texas	560
California	540
Utah	520
Arizona	490
Arkansas	430
Iowa	380
Illinois	330
Washington	300
South Carolina	290
Oregon	280

Highest-Paying States for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

Where metal-refining furnace operators and tenders earn the most: metal-refining furnace operators and tenders.

State	Annual Median Salary
Indiana	$75,630
Utah	$70,450
New York	$64,350
Iowa	$64,080
Oregon	$62,320
New Jersey	$62,130
Pennsylvania	$60,200
Washington	$59,170
California	$58,220
Kansas	$57,470

Skills

Key metal-refining furnace operators and tenders skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

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

Abilities

Top abilities for metal-refining furnace operators and tenders, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders typically:

• Regulate supplies of fuel and air, or control flow of electric current and water coolant to heat furnaces and adjust temperatures.
• Draw smelted metal samples from furnaces or kettles for analysis, and calculate types and amounts of materials needed to ensure that materials meet specifications.
• Weigh materials to be charged into furnaces, using scales.
• Record production data, and maintain production logs.
• Observe air and temperature gauges or metal color and fluidity, and turn fuel valves or adjust controls to maintain required temperatures.
• Operate controls to move or discharge metal workpieces from furnaces.
• Inspect furnaces and equipment to locate defects and wear.
• Drain, transfer, or remove molten metal from furnaces, and place it into molds, using hoists, pumps, or ladles.
• Kindle fires, and shovel fuel and other materials into furnaces or onto conveyors by hand, with hoists, or by directing crane operators.
• Prepare material to load into furnaces, including cleaning, crushing, or applying chemicals, by using crushing machines, shovels, rakes, or sprayers.
• Remove impurities from the surface of molten metal, using strainers.
• Observe operations inside furnaces, using television screens, to ensure that problems do not occur.

Work Activities

• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Getting Information
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards

Tools & Technology

Technologies frequently used: Hot technologies: Microsoft Excel

Related Careers

Related occupations to metal-refining furnace operators and tenders include:

• Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
• Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Pourers and Casters, Metal
• Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
• Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Also Known As

Arc and Argon Oxygen Decarburization Melter (ARC and AOD Melter), Automatic Furnace Operator, Backbreaker, Bessemer Converter Blower, Bessemer Converter Operator, Bessemer Regulator, Blade Bender Furnace Tender, Blast Furnace Blower, Blast Furnace Keeper, Blast Furnace Operator, Blast Furnace Tender, Blower Operator, Burner, Burner Tender, Cadmium Burner.

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: 51-4051.00