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Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Spartanburg, SC
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $74,420 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $61,940 per year in Spartanburg, SC. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 20.1% above Spartanburg, SC on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4034 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 360 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 90 in Spartanburg, SC. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.