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Pourers and Casters, Metal: Career Profile

Operate hand-controlled mechanisms to pour and regulate the flow of molten metal into molds to produce castings or ingots.

What Tasks Do Pourers and Casters, Metal Take On?

The core tasks performed by pourers and casters, metal span:

• Pour and regulate the flow of molten metal into molds and forms to produce ingots or other castings, using ladles or hand-controlled mechanisms.
• Read temperature gauges and observe color changes, adjusting furnace flames, torches, or electrical heating units as necessary to melt metal to specifications.
• Remove solidified steel or slag from pouring nozzles, using long bars or oxygen burners.
• Examine molds to ensure they are clean, smooth, and properly coated.
• Collect samples, or signal workers to sample metal for analysis.
• Load specified amounts of metal and flux into furnaces or clay crucibles.
• Position equipment such as ladles, grinding wheels, pouring nozzles, or crucibles, or signal other workers to position equipment.
• Skim slag or remove excess metal from ingots or equipment, using hand tools, strainers, rakes, or burners, collecting scrap for recycling.

What Pourers and Casters, Metal Need to Know

Effective pourers and casters, metal combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

These are the skills most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Core Knowledge

Related Job Titles

Common job titles for this role include:

• Aluminum Pourer
• Billet Header
• Brass Pourer
• Buggy Ladle Tender
• Bull Ladle Tender
• Busher
• Caster
• Casting Machine Operator

Job Outlook

There are roughly 374,992 pourers and casters, metal working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to grow by +11.3% over the projection horizon.

Salary for Pourers and Casters, Metal

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$48,955
Hourly median	$23.54
10th percentile	$29,491
25th percentile	$39,223
75th percentile	$58,686
90th percentile	$68,418

Compensation varies based on experience, location, and industry.

Pay by State

State	Annual median salary
Florida	$62,080
Massachusetts	$58,910
North Carolina	$58,640
Michigan	$57,690
Georgia	$56,190
Illinois	$56,090
Iowa	$54,320
Indiana	$54,110
Oregon	$50,230
New York	$49,720
Texas	$48,800
Ohio	$47,310
Missouri	$47,210
Tennessee	$47,100
Wisconsin	$46,170
Virginia	$45,480
Kentucky	$44,700
West Virginia	$44,700
Utah	$44,450
Pennsylvania	$44,060
California	$40,770
Arkansas	$40,300
Alabama	$39,210

Where Pourers and Casters, Metal Earn the Most

Compensation for pourers and casters, metal shift depending on where you work. Top regions by median wage:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
New England	$58,910	2.2%	0.87
Great Lakes	$52,445	50.4%	4.95
Plains States	$50,765	4.1%	1.44
Southwest	$48,800	8.9%	0.92
Southeast	$44,761	14.6%	1.67
Rocky Mountains	$44,450	0.7%	0.59
Middle Atlantic	$44,374	13.3%	2.83
Far Western US	$42,600	5.7%	0.45

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	MA	$64,090	90
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	IL	$59,850	490
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	RI	$53,720	40
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	TX	$49,770	110
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	PA	$48,930	70
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	IN	$48,320	140
Lancaster, PA	PA	$46,070	30
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	IN	$45,440	40

Which Industries Hire Pourers and Casters, Metal

The bulk of pourers and casters, metal are concentrated in the following sectors:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Manufacturing	5,720	$48,990
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	70	$37,300

Pourers and Casters, Metal work in the following industries:

Software Pourers and Casters, Metal Use

• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
• Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)

Work Environment

The on-the-job environment of pourers and casters, metal tends to involve 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
• Spend Time Standing
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
• Exposed to Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites, or Stings

How to Become Pourers and Casters, Metal

Most pourers and casters, metal 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.

Other Careers to Consider

Similar Occupations

• Maintenance Workers, Machinery (Supplemental)
• Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons (Supplemental)
• Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Primary-Short)
• Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Primary-Short)
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders (Primary-Long)

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: 51-4052.00 (Pourers and Casters, Metal).