Occupation / job
Helpers--Production Workers
Median annual pay. Half earn less than this.
Hourly at a standard 2,080-hour year. We do not yet have unpaid-time or cost data for this, so this is not an adjusted figure.
The middle half. A quarter earn below this range.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 · view
What this figure cannot tell you
It covers people EMPLOYED in this occupation. Anyone who trained for it and was never hired is not in the median above, and neither is anyone doing the work self-employed. No verified count of qualified people exists for this occupation, so this page shows none rather than an estimate. Why that matters · The occupations where we could source it
Who this suits
A median of $39,070 against the $50,020 all-occupation figure leaves Helpers--Production Workers 22% behind — $10,950 across a year. Whether that is workable depends almost entirely on where you would be doing it.
165,700 people are employed as Helpers--Production Workers. At that size there is a real ladder and enough churn that experience can be sold to a competitor rather than only accumulated where you are.
These production roles suit people who value a fixed site, a defined task and hours that end when the shift does, and who are consistent over long repetitive runs.
We carry no verified training length for Helpers--Production Workers — BLS reports pay, not preparation, and we will not estimate it.
Who should not do this
$10,770 separates the bottom quarter at $35,220 from the top quarter at $45,990, a ratio of 1.3x. In a band that tight, moving up inside Helpers--Production Workers pays less than moving out of it would.
A quarter of Helpers--Production Workers earn under $35,220, which is $14,800 short of the $50,020 national midpoint. Assume you start there and check whether the arithmetic still works.
Avoid it if you need a career shape; many of these roles are flat by design.
You will not find a "what share make it" figure here. 165,700 is a headcount of the employed, which is a numerator without a denominator — everyone who qualified and never got hired is missing from it, and we will not estimate them to complete a percentage.
What the spread tells you
At 1.3x between $35,220 and $45,990, this is a narrow distribution. $39,070 is a reliable number to plan around, which is worth something — but so is knowing that outperforming the field will not be paid for.
In cash terms the middle half of Helpers--Production Workers runs $35,220 to $45,990 — $10,770 a year between the 25th and 75th percentiles, against a midpoint of $39,070.
Getting to $45,990, the 75th percentile, is worth $6,920 a year more than the $39,070 midpoint and $10,770 more than the $35,220 a quarter of Helpers--Production Workers settle for.
It is $3,850 from $39,070 down to $35,220 but $6,920 up to $45,990. When a range leans this far upward, the interesting question is what puts someone in the top half, because the money is disproportionately there.
On a 2,080-hour year the midpoint for Helpers--Production Workers is $18.78 an hour. The quarters sit at $16.93 and $22.11, and the all-occupation midpoint at $24.04.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Employers reported these wages for people already working as Helpers--Production Workers. The self-employed are excluded, so $39,070 does not describe an independent doing the same work.
With no unpaid-hours or cost data for Helpers--Production Workers, the hourly figure is $39,070 over a 2,080-hour year — a unit conversion, not an adjustment.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else