Texas·Production Occupations·SOC 51-4023

Best Rolling Machine Setter programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

Set up, operate, or tend machines to roll steel or plastic forming bends, beads, knurls, rolls, or plate, or to flatten, temper, or reduce gauge of.

10 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 263 people a year. The job pays a median of $49,660 in Texas across about 1,680 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledMill OperatorTube Mill OperatorRolling Mill OperatorRoughing Mill OperatorRollerSetterFlangerLeveler
Graduates / yr
263
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$49,660
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,680
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
35%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

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

1 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas 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 Texas
263
100.0%
10$36,566$9,429

Top 10 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Texas State Technical College
Waco, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
75Machine Tool Technology/Machinist$35,72046%
2Amarillo College
Amarillo, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
69Machine Tool Technology/Machinist$48,26332%
3St Philip's College
San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
32Machine Tool Technology/Machinist28%
4Grayson College
Denison, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
23Machine Tool Technology/Machinist40%
5Brazosport College
Lake Jackson, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
15Machine Tool Technology/Machinist56%
6Del Mar College
Corpus Christi, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
14Machine Tool Technology/Machinist11%
7North Central Texas College
Gainesville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
13Machine Tool Technology/Machinist35%
8Angelina College
Lufkin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
10Machine Tool Technology/Machinist29%
9Lee College
Baytown, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
8Machine Tool Technology/Machinist53%
10Ranger College
Ranger, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
4Machine Tool Technology/Machinist19%

All 10 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas 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 Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Texas State Technical CollegeWacoPublic751
Amarillo CollegeAmarilloPublic691
St Philip's CollegeSan AntonioPublic321
Grayson CollegeDenisonPublic231
Brazosport CollegeLake JacksonPublic151
Del Mar CollegeCorpus ChristiPublic141
North Central Texas CollegeGainesvillePublic131
Angelina CollegeLufkinPublic101
Lee CollegeBaytownPublic81
Ranger CollegeRangerPublic41

What rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Texas

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

Median annual in Texas
$49,660
Mean annual
$51,650
Jobs in state
1,680
What the range looks like
10th pct$35,600Median$49,66090th pct$75,730
Versus the national median
-1.0%

U.S. median $50,140. Texas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.74×

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

Metro areas in Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$57,280median
490 jobs
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$48,830median
350 jobs
El Paso, TX
$52,950median
60 jobs
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$45,510median
100 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-8.3%
Decline
Openings per year
1,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,900
22,500 → 20,600
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 Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic page.

How to become a Rolling Machine 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

MonitoringSpeakingActive ListeningCritical ThinkingActive LearningReading Comprehension

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Texas

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Rolling Machine 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
  • 48.0506Sheet Metal Technology/Sheetworking

Common questions

Answers for people weighing rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic programs in Texas.

What degree do you need to become a Rolling Machine 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 263 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Rolling Machine Setter?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 263 people a year in Texas.

How much do rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Texas?+

The median is $49,660 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.0% below the U.S. median of $50,140. 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 rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic growing?+

BLS projects a -8.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+

10 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Mill Operator, Tube Mill Operator, Rolling Mill Operator, Roughing Mill Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4023.

Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in other statesCaliforniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeKansasWisconsinColoradoOklahomaMississippi

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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