Mill hand vs finisher operator

The differences between mill hands and finisher operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a mill hand has an average salary of $44,175, which is higher than the $35,406 average annual salary of a finisher operator.

The top three skills for a mill hand include CNC, RAN and rail cars. The most important skills for a finisher operator are hand tools, math, and quality checks.

Mill hand vs finisher operator overview

	Mill Hand	Finisher Operator
Yearly salary	$44,175	$35,406
Hourly rate	$21.24	$17.02
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	4,892	77,850
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	High School Diploma, 45%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	-	4

Mill hand vs finisher operator salary

Mill hands and finisher operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mill Hand	Finisher Operator
Average salary	$44,175	$35,406
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $55,000	Between $28,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	-	Horsham, PA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Elanco
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between mill hand and finisher operator education

There are a few differences between a mill hand and a finisher operator in terms of educational background:

	Mill Hand	Finisher Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	High School Diploma, 45%
Most common major	General Studies	Business
Most common college	-	-

Mill hand vs finisher operator demographics

Here are the differences between mill hands' and finisher operators' demographics:

	Mill Hand	Finisher Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 93.9% Female, 6.1%	Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 7.9% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 15.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 2.5% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	5%	4%

Differences between mill hand and finisher operator duties and responsibilities

Mill hand example responsibilities.

Coordinate with material engineers and chemists to troubleshoot areas of improvement.
Maintain and ensure equipment run properly.

Finisher operator example responsibilities.

Experience following procedures and managing GMP documentation.
Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, banding machines or hand tools.
Cross train in CIP validation.
Perform labor duties of concrete demolition.
Operate multiple CNC machines and shadow CNC programmers
Process parts for fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI/ NDT).

Mill hand vs finisher operator skills

Common mill hand skills

CNC, 41%
RAN, 22%
Rail Cars, 17%
General Maintenance, 7%
Routine Maintenance, 7%
Augers, 6%

Common finisher operator skills

Hand Tools, 10%
Math, 9%
Quality Checks, 7%
Safety Procedures, 5%
Quality Standards, 5%
Product Quality, 5%