Career Atlas USA

Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders

Median salary
$38,180
Average salary
$40,380
Employment
5,310
Projected growth
10.1% decline
Annual openings
700
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent

What Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders Do

Operate or tend machines to bleach, shrink, wash, dye, or finish textiles or synthetic or glass fibers.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 20242034.

Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Self-employed
2.4%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 2 of 5

Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Experience
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
Education
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Job training
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

  • Production and Processingimportance 3.4/5
  • Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.6/5
  • Education and Trainingimportance 2.5/5
  • Administration and Managementimportance 2.5/5
  • Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.5/5
  • Mathematicsimportance 2.4/5
  • English Languageimportance 2.3/5
  • Mechanicalimportance 2.3/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

  • Exposed to Contaminants4.7/5
  • Spend Time Standing4.6/5
  • Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled4.6/5
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.5/5
  • Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment4.3/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

  • Operations Monitoringimportance 3.8/5
  • Operation and Controlimportance 3.4/5
  • Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
  • Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.9/5
  • Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.9/5
  • Coordinationimportance 2.8/5
  • Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.6/5
  • Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.6/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Other Software Used

  • Hewlett-Packard HP OpenVMS

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

  • Dependability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Cautiousness
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Perseverance
  • Self-Control
  • Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

  • RealisticHigh
  • ConventionalMedium
  • InvestigativeLow
  • ArtisticLow
  • SocialLow
  • EnterprisingLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

  1. 1Dalton, GA68.89× national avg
  2. 2Burlington, NC48.66× national avg
  3. 3Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC22.09× national avg
  4. 4Greensboro-High Point, NC18.35× national avg
  5. 5Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC16.88× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

See the full career path from Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders

Full salary data & percentiles →Best states for this career →Highest-paying states →