Career-PathGPS
← All education and training
Career

Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Typical education: High school diplomaModerate pressure

What they do

Set up, operate, or tend milling or planing machines to mill, plane, shape, groove, or profile metal or plastic work pieces.

Kinds of work

  • Realistic: Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals, often outdoors.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

Moderate pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $52,800 Median per year · $25.39/hr Most earn $37,840–$81,030

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
  • Record production output.
  • Compute dimensions, tolerances, and angles of workpieces or machines according to specifications and knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
  • Study blueprints, layouts, sketches, or work orders to assess workpiece specifications and to determine tooling instructions, tools and materials needed, and sequences of operations.
  • Mount attachments and tools, such as pantographs, engravers, or routers, to perform other operations, such as drilling or boring.
  • Turn valves or pull levers to start and regulate the flow of coolant or lubricant to work areas.

Job outlook

United States
13% fewer jobs by 2035, declining · about 1,000 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Machine shops13.2%
  • Aerospace product and parts manufacturing9.8%
  • Fabricated metal product manufacturing9.5%
  • Alumina and aluminum production and processing8.2%
  • Machinery manufacturing7.1%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Milling and planing machine operators usually need a high school diploma and a few years of hands-on machine shop experience first, so this is not a job you typically start straight out of school. Most people build up to it over roughly 2 to 4 years, often by starting on simpler machines.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Finish high school with math, shop, and technical classes, which give you the basics for reading measurements and blueprints.

  2. Grinding Machine Operator

    6 months to 1 year

    Start on a simpler machine tool job, learning to load parts, read drawings, and check measurements with precision tools.

  3. Drilling Machine Operator

    1 to 2 years

    Build more experience setting up machines, adjusting speeds, and checking finished parts, which prepares you to run more complex cutting equipment.

  4. Milling and Planing Machine Operator

    Ongoing once hired

    Set up and run milling or planing machines to shape, groove, and profile metal or plastic parts to specification.

Where it can lead

  1. CNC Machine Tool Operator

    1-2 years of experience first

    Move from manually run machines to computer-controlled machines, where you load and run programs and monitor production runs.

  2. Machinist

    3-5 years of experience first

    Gain skills to read complex drawings, plan machining steps, and make your own precision parts, usually earning more responsibility on the shop floor.

  3. Tool and Die Maker

    5+ years of experience first

    Build and repair the tools and molds that other machines use, which takes advanced skills and often a formal apprenticeship.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take shop and technical classesCourses like metal shop, woodshop, or engineering drawing teach you how tools, materials, and measurements work together.
  • Strengthen your math skillsGeometry, algebra, and measurement practice help you read dimensions and set machines accurately.
  • Join a career or technical student organizationGroups like SkillsUSA, where your school offers them, give you chances to practice hands-on skills and meet people in manufacturing.
  • Look for a starter job or summer jobWork at a warehouse, farm equipment shop, or factory to learn shop routines, teamwork, and safety on the job.

In college

  • Take machining or manufacturing coursesClasses in machine tool technology, CAD, or manufacturing processes build the skills employers look for in machine operators.
  • Apply for a manufacturing internship or co-opHands-on experience in a machine shop shows employers you can handle the work and speeds up your path to a paid operator job.
  • Get a campus or part-time job in a lab or workshopWorking in a makerspace, engineering lab, or school shop helps you practice measuring, setup, and safe tool use.
  • Ask about certificationsMany community colleges offer short credentials in machining or measurement, which can make your resume stand out if your school offers them.

Tips for getting started

  • Take shop, math (especially geometry and trigonometry), and any computer or drafting classes, since they match what you will use on the job every day.
  • Look for a local machine shop, manufacturing plant, or vocational program that offers tours, job shadowing, or summer jobs so you can see the work up close.
  • Learn basic safety habits early, such as wearing eye protection and following lockout procedures, because employers value people who work safely.

Related jobs that often lead here

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

Related careers