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The national median salary for Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders is $46,467 per year ($22.34/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $37,232 and $53,602 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $60,819 per year. There are approximately 11,500 adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Operate or tend bonding machines that use adhesives to join items for further processing or to form a completed product. Processes include joining veneer sheets into plywood; gluing paper; or joining rubber and rubberized fabric parts, plastic, simulated leather, or other materials.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+1.0%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
1K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
12K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
1% from new growth99% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing
NAICS 322200
3K
$50,590
Plastics Product Manufacturing
NAICS 326100
2K
$35,270
Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing
NAICS 321200
1K
$48,940
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
NAICS 336400
950
$60,810
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)
NAICS 3370A1
640
$39,840
Wage range across top 5 industries: $35,270 to $60,810 (72% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$15.12
$31,450
P25
$17.90
$37,232
P50MEDIAN
$22.34
$46,467
P75
$25.77
$53,602
P90
$29.24
$60,819
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · manufacturing sector
Stable
Openings Rate
3.5%
Quits Rate
1.4%
Manufacturing openings ticked up to 462K (+19K) in March, with the rate at 3.5%. Hires rose to 310K. The sector has stabilized after late-2025 softening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders salary?
The national median salary for Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders is $46,467 per year ($22.34/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $37,232 and $53,602 annually.
How much do top-earning adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders make?
The 90th percentile salary for Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders is $60,819 per year ($29.24/hr). The 75th percentile is $53,602 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders?
Entry-level Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders (10th percentile) earn approximately $31,450 per year ($15.12/hr). The 25th percentile is $37,232 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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