Printing Press Operators
SOC 51-5112 · 2024-2034
Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -20%
California projects this job will shrink over the next ten years. Fewer openings may mean a harder search.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $47,162per year
- Projected openings
- 9,540
- Projected change
- -20%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Operations Monitoring
- Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $58,491 | 80 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $56,716 | 440 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $55,251 | 500 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $51,935 | 250 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $50,365 | 120 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $50,365 | 170 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $50,184 | 700 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $49,811 | 140 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $48,908 | 100 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $48,139 | 600 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $46,836 | 60 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $46,733 | 80 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $46,725 | 3,530 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $46,713 | 2,190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $46,569 | 90 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $46,538 | 250 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $46,159 | 1,110 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $45,892 | 110 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $45,522 | 150 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $45,174 | 90 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $44,856 | 50 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $44,178 | 1,110 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 50 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $37,415
- A quarter earn under
- $39,409
- Half earn under
- $47,162
- Three quarters earn under
- $56,122
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $65,368
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $49,842 | 4,980 | -3.5% |
| Prepress Technicians and Workers | $55,089 | 2,410 | -16.7% |
| Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators | $48,400 | 1,900 | 0% |
| Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | $49,556 | 6,410 | -11.7% |
| Print Binding and Finishing Workers | $46,426 | 900 | -31.3% |
| Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $47,162 | 3,280 | -6.3% |