Mill hand vs mill operator

The differences between mill hands and mill 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 $39,045 average annual salary of a mill operator.

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

Mill hand vs mill operator overview

	Mill Hand	Mill Operator
Yearly salary	$44,175	$39,045
Hourly rate	$21.24	$18.77
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	4,892	64,574
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	High School Diploma, 49%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	-	4

Mill hand vs mill operator salary

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

	Mill Hand	Mill Operator
Average salary	$44,175	$39,045
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $55,000	Between $31,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	-	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	-	Construction

Differences between mill hand and mill operator education

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

	Mill Hand	Mill Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	High School Diploma, 49%
Most common major	General Studies	Business
Most common college	-	-

Mill hand vs mill operator demographics

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

	Mill Hand	Mill Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 93.9% Female, 6.1%	Male, 92.5% Female, 7.5%
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, 14.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 2.4% White, 62.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	5%	4%

Differences between mill hand and mill 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.

Mill operator example responsibilities.

Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Perform all work in respirator and other proper PPE.
Skil at training other machinists on CNC machines in this shop.
Assemble parts, operate CNC lathe and mills and adjust off sets.
Perform QC testing on products, filing paperwork per company and ISO standards.
Rebuild Rotex sifters, fabricate and replace screens, replace shoes and anvils in impact mills.

Mill hand vs mill operator skills

Common mill hand skills

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

Common mill operator skills

CNC, 7%
OSHA, 7%
Math, 6%
Calipers, 6%
Hand Tools, 5%
Safety Rules, 5%