New York·Production Occupations·SOC 51-4191

Best Heat Treating Equipment Setter programs in New York, ranked by enrollment

Set up, operate, or tend heating equipment, such as heat-treating furnaces, flame-hardening machines, induction machines, soaking pits, or vacuum equipment to temper, harden, anneal, or heat treat metal or plastic.

4 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 27 people a year. The job pays a median of $52,940 in New York across about 280 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledHeat TreaterFurnace OperatorHeat Treat OperatorHeat Treat TechnicianBaggerBurnerPusherCharger
Graduates / yr
27
in New York
Median pay · New York
$52,940
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
280
people employed
Schools
4
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
46%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New York that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in New York that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New York (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New York page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 48.0501In New York
26
96.3%
3$36,566$9,429
2
CIP 48.0503In New York
1
3.7%
1$36,566$9,429

Top 4 schools in New York

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 4 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Erie 1 BOCES
West Seneca, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
20Machine Tool Technology/Machinist96%
2SUNY Corning Community College
Corning, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
4Machine Tool Technology/Machinist34%
3Onondaga Community College
Syracuse, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
2Machine Tool Technology/Machinist27%
4Monroe Community College
Rochester, NY Public · 1 feeder programs
1Machine Shop Technology/Assistant$40,15527%

All 4 schools in New York

Every school in New York with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in New York that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Erie 1 BOCESWest SenecaPublic201
SUNY Corning Community CollegeCorningPublic41
Onondaga Community CollegeSyracusePublic21
Monroe Community CollegeRochesterPublic11

What heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in New York

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in New York
$52,940
Mean annual
$53,020
Jobs in state
280
What the range looks like
10th pct$37,750Median$52,94090th pct$64,560
Versus the national median
+8.6%

U.S. median $48,750. New York pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.32×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in New York

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
$50,010median
420 jobs
Rochester, NY
$54,170median
60 jobs
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
$47,430median
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-12.8%
Decline
Openings per year
1,200
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,900
14,800 → 12,900
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic page.

How to become a Heat Treating Equipment Setter

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Active ListeningMonitoringSpeakingCritical ThinkingWritingMathematics

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in New York

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 48.0501Machine Tool Technology/Machinist
  • 48.0503Machine Shop Technology/Assistant

Common questions

Answers for people weighing heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic programs in New York.

What degree do you need to become a Heat Treating Equipment Setter?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Machine Tool Technology/Machinist, which awarded 26 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 96.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Heat Treating Equipment Setter?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 27 people a year in New York.

How much do heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in New York?+

The median is $52,940 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.6% above the U.S. median of $48,750. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic growing?+

BLS projects a -12.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+

4 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Heat Treater, Furnace Operator, Heat Treat Operator, Heat Treat Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4191.

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in other statesKentuckyCaliforniaSouth CarolinaTexasTennesseeWisconsinIndianaKansas

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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