Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary — Portland, Oregon

The average Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Portland, Oregon earns $53,750 a year.

$53,750 / year, mean
↑ 3.9% above national average 67th percentile in Oregon

Portland sits roughly in the middle of the pack for this role within Oregon — neither a standout nor a laggard. That's close to the national average for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders — a fairly typical rate for this role. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Oregon

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
660
Estimate confidence
RSE 1.3%
Cost of living 105 #21 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 2419 #180 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $552,022 #24 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $94,573 #19 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Portland ranks #21 for cost of living and #24 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

Albany $66,820 Longview $66,350 Terre Haute $61,390 Glens Falls $60,550 Jacksonville $60,470 Seattle $59,650 San Francisco $56,680 Louisville $56,610 Spokane $56,250 Modesto $56,020 Battle Creek $55,880 Bowling Green $55,680 Virginia Beach $55,450 Buffalo $55,080 Chicago $54,540 Syracuse $54,260 Richmond $53,890 Yakima $53,890 Portland $53,750 Sacramento $53,670 Lynchburg $53,440 Hagerstown $52,800 Salem $52,790 Rockford $52,640 Detroit $52,630 Gettysburg $52,510 Orlando $52,490 Philadelphia $52,400 Kalamazoo $52,220 Stockton $52,160 Reading $51,860 Los Angeles $51,490 Albany $51,070 Riverside $51,030 York $50,870 Miami $50,460 Visalia $50,410 Indianapolis $50,090 Allentown $50,010 Grand Rapids $49,450 Dallas $49,220 Lakeland $49,130 New York $49,120 Rochester $49,000 Lancaster $48,870 Fresno $48,770 Tampa $48,660 San Diego $48,600 Ann Arbor $47,880 Killeen $47,740 Fort Wayne $47,680 Niles $46,780 Salinas $46,720 Altoona $46,570 Houston $46,330 Pittsburgh $45,300 Elkhart $45,190 Lebanon $43,290 Roanoke $43,110 Harrisburg $41,460 Vineland $39,750 El Paso $39,530
CityMean salaryvs. Portland
Albany, Oregon$66,820+24.3%
Albany, New York$51,070-5.0%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$50,010-7.0%
Altoona, Pennsylvania$46,570-13.4%
Ann Arbor, Michigan$47,880-10.9%
Battle Creek, Michigan$55,880+4.0%
Bowling Green, Kentucky$55,680+3.6%
Buffalo, New York$55,080+2.5%
Chicago, Illinois$54,540+1.5%
Dallas, Texas$49,220-8.4%
Detroit, Michigan$52,630-2.1%
Elkhart, Indiana$45,190-15.9%
El Paso, Texas$39,530-26.5%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$47,680-11.3%
Fresno, California$48,770-9.3%
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania$52,510-2.3%
Glens Falls, New York$60,550+12.7%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$49,450-8.0%
Hagerstown, Maryland$52,800-1.8%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$41,460-22.9%
Houston, Texas$46,330-13.8%
Indianapolis, Indiana$50,090-6.8%
Jacksonville, Florida$60,470+12.5%
Kalamazoo, Michigan$52,220-2.8%
Killeen, Texas$47,740-11.2%
Lakeland, Florida$49,130-8.6%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$48,870-9.1%
Lebanon, Pennsylvania$43,290-19.5%
Longview, Washington$66,350+23.4%
Los Angeles, California$51,490-4.2%
Louisville, Kentucky$56,610+5.3%
Lynchburg, Virginia$53,440-0.6%
Miami, Florida$50,460-6.1%
Modesto, California$56,020+4.2%
New York, New York$49,120-8.6%
Niles, Michigan$46,780-13.0%
Orlando, Florida$52,490-2.3%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$52,400-2.5%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$45,300-15.7%
Reading, Pennsylvania$51,860-3.5%
Richmond, Virginia$53,890+0.3%
Riverside, California$51,030-5.1%
Roanoke, Virginia$43,110-19.8%
Rochester, New York$49,000-8.8%
Rockford, Illinois$52,640-2.1%
Sacramento, California$53,670-0.1%
Salem, Oregon$52,790-1.8%
Salinas, California$46,720-13.1%
San Diego, California$48,600-9.6%
San Francisco, California$56,680+5.5%
Seattle, Washington$59,650+11.0%
Spokane, Washington$56,250+4.7%
Stockton, California$52,160-3.0%
Syracuse, New York$54,260+0.9%
Tampa, Florida$48,660-9.5%
Terre Haute, Indiana$61,390+14.2%
Vineland, New Jersey$39,750-26.0%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$55,450+3.2%
Visalia, California$50,410-6.2%
Yakima, Washington$53,890+0.3%
York, Pennsylvania$50,870-5.4%

This metro area spans more than one state — where you actually pay income tax depends on where you work, not just where BLS assigns the area. Choose your work state:

Gross salary
53,750/yr
Estimated take-home
41,596/yr
Est. total withheld
22.6%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2025 rates, for whichever state you select above. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional.

View cost of living in this state All Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders salaries in Oregon → All Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders salaries →
Community reality check

Community reality check for Portland

These notes add local color around Portland, Oregon: comfort ranges, budget constraints and location trade-offs reported in public discussions.

Relocation gap2.0× calculator gap
City comparison anecdotal

Discussion highlights that calculators may imply roughly 2x gross income for comparable standard of living, while some employers offer only about 10% location premiums. Tech total compensation can be an exception, so the page should distinguish salary from total compensation.

2.0×calculator multiplier10%HCOL premium cited$200KAtlanta TC example$450KBay Area TC example

Anecdotal public-discussion signals, not official salary data, rent data or financial advice. Read this alongside the official figures on the page.

Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 51-9196 SOC code
Official area Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 38900 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: or_dor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
VancouverHillsboro
Multi-state area: OR;WA
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Oregon

Population (metro area)
2,510,529