Helpers--Production Workers
SOC 51-9198 · 2024-2034
Help production workers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -9.5%
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
- $44,973per year
- Projected openings
- 23,600
- Projected change
- -9.5%
- 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.
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $58,111 | 100 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $53,823 | 330 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $50,201 | 560 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $48,590 | 1,250 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $48,128 | 110 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $47,326 | 1,740 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $46,897 | 710 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $45,830 | 2,640 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $45,245 | 3,340 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $45,194 | 200 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $45,015 | 740 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $43,491 | 100 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $43,450 | 910 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $42,691 | 190 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $42,578 | 250 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $42,282 | 6,550 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $42,280 | 190 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $42,280 | 510 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $41,644 | 370 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $41,080 | 600 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $40,937 | 3,340 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $40,372 | 150 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $39,900 | 460 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $39,654 | 510 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $39,459 | 140 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $39,274 | 140 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 70 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $37,476
- A quarter earn under
- $39,685
- Half earn under
- $44,973
- Three quarters earn under
- $50,415
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $63,548
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers | $45,933 | 10,870 | +2.2% |
| Helpers--Extraction Workers | $53,121 | 1,270 | 0% |
| Machine Feeders and Offbearers | $41,264 | 5,140 | -10.2% |
| Helpers--Carpenters | $51,242 | 3,040 | +7.4% |
| Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters | $50,933 | 3,310 | -8.1% |
| Maintenance Workers, Machinery | $69,758 | 3,750 | 0% |
Programs that train for this job — 1
Auto Body Metal (Certificate of Achievement)
Allan Hancock College · Santa Maria · $1,144