Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 51-3092, #316 of 1,410 by filings
Food Batchmakers
- Biggest sponsor
- GDI Services Inc. · 82% of its filings
- Busiest state
- GA · 89% of its filings
- Major group
- Production · SOC 51
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$20,571
all PERM $103,272
Filings
96
#316 of 1,410
Approval
83.3%
field 96.8%
Median days
536
59 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$20,571above 0.7%
Approval rate
83.3%ahead of 6%
Median days to decision
536 daysahead of 0.0%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- GDI Services Inc. 79 filings · 98.7% approved
- Ardens Garden The Juice Market, Inc 6 filings
- Kettle Heroes 6 filings
- Betsy Ann Candies Inc 1 filings
- CAVALCANTI AND VERTAMATTI FOODS 1 filings
- colombomex,inc. dba la flor michoacana ice cream 1 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 94 of 96 filings, 98% of the total.
Firms filing it
- American International Immigration Law, PLLC 85 filings · 91.8% approved
- Law Office of David R Gates PLLC 6 filings
- Law Offices of Hyder Overas 1 filings
- Law Offices of Mario Bozza 1 filings
- Mark T Knapp Esquire 1 filings
- Rivera Hernandez Campos, PLLC 1 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 95 of 96 filings, 99% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Georgia 85
- Arizona 6
- California 1
- Pennsylvania 1
- Texas 1
- Utah 1
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 95 of 96 filings.
Where the work is
- Bogart, GA 79
- East Point, GA 6
- Tempe, AZ 6
- Charlottesville, VA 1
- Coronado, CA 1
- Pittsburgh, PA 1
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 94 of 96 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023
From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.
Country of citizenship
- Bangladesh 122
- Philippines 20
- Mexico 14
- Italy 10
- South Korea 8
- Pakistan 7
Worker's education
- None 189
- High School 15
- Bachelor's 6
- Other 1
Visa held when filed
- NOT IN USA 152
- F-1 4
- J-1 4
- EWI 3
- F-2 3
- B-2 2
Schools
- N/A 2
- NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2
- WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY 2
- ALI SOKOLI 1
- COLEGIO IMTIAM 1
- COLEGIUL ECONOMIC NASAUD 1
Fields of study
- N/A 3
- HIGH SCHOOL 2
- TOURISM IN MANAGEMENT 2
- COMPUTING INFORMATICS 1
- CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 1
- ENOLOGY 1
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States174,520 jobs
- Athens-Clarke County, GABogart
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAEast Point
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZTempe
- Charlottesville, VACharlottesville
- Pittsburgh, PAPittsburgh
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $42,290 | ||||
| Athens-Clarke County, GA | $32,320 | $30,347 | $33,550 | $36,733 | $39,936 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $48,780 | $34,902 | $40,726 | $46,530 | $52,354 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $40,550 | $35,776 | $39,458 | $43,160 | $46,842 |
| Charlottesville, VA | $46,860 | $31,928 | $39,083 | $46,218 | $53,373 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $37,040 | $29,162 | $34,674 | $40,165 | $45,677 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Athens-Clarke County, GA, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $30,347 | $33,550 | $36,733 | $39,936 |
| 2025-26 | $32,989 | $38,314 | $43,618 | $48,942 |
| 2024-25 | $32,094 | $37,315 | $42,515 | $47,736 |
| 2023-24 | $22,152 | $25,230 | $28,288 | $31,366 |
| 2022-23 | $23,109 | $25,792 | $28,475 | $31,158 |
| 2021-22 | $20,571 | $26,042 | $31,512 | $36,982 |
What the job is
Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers.
- Preparation
- Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 1-2
- DOL's education basis
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +6.5%
- About 23,100 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.
- Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.
- Set up, operate, and tend equipment that cooks, mixes, blends, or processes ingredients in the manufacturing of food products, according to formulas or recipes.
- Mix or blend ingredients, according to recipes, using a paddle or an agitator, or by controlling vats that heat and mix ingredients.
- Follow recipes to produce food products of specified flavor, texture, clarity, bouquet, or color.
- Give directions to other workers who are assisting in the batchmaking process.
The education workers in it report
- 14%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 38%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 22%
Post-Secondary Certificate
- 27%
Some College Courses
Titles people use for it
Batching Operator, Blender, Mixer, Mixer Operator, Brewing Technician, Compounder, Dosier Operator, Dough Scaler.
Related jobs: Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders, Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders, Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Bakers, Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine 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. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 316 of 1,410 by volume: 315 filed at least as many filings, and 1,094 filed no more.
- Just above
- Electricians 96 filings
- Just below
- Quality Control Analysts 95 filings
Other production roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #326 Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers 89 filings · 8 denied
- #331 Dental Laboratory Technicians 86 filings · 2 denied
- #336 Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters 84 filings · 7 denied
- #348 Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters 81 filings · 14 denied
- #274 Butchers and Meat Cutters 125 filings · 33 denied
- #266 Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers 131 filings · 13 denied
The same job on H-1B
3 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $47,840 a year; the middle half ran $44,044 to $47,840. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 51-3092. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 96 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Food Batchmakers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 96 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is GDI Services Inc.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it