Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 51-9111.00, #203 of 1,410 by filings
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
- Biggest sponsor
- FRONTIER LOGISTICS, L.P · 32% of its filings
- Busiest state
- SC · 29% 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
$35,360
all PERM $103,272
Filings
214
#203 of 1,410
Approval
100.0%
field 96.8%
Median days
414
63 faster 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
$35,360above 18%
Approval rate
100.0%ahead of 91%, level with 49 more
Median days to decision
414 daysahead of 71%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2024
$40,040 median · 102 certified cases
FY2025
$31,172 median · 56 certified cases
FY2026
$30,000 median · 50 certified cases
- 10th
- $30,000
- -6.9% since FY2024
- Median
- $30,000
- -25.1% since FY2024
- 90th
- $35,500
- -15.7% since FY2024
- 95th
- $39,518
- -6.1% since FY2024
These years are not measuring the same group of filings. The count moves by 2.0 times between the largest year and the smallest, so a change in the ladder is at least partly a change in which employers filed rather than a change in what the work pays. Read the shape, not the difference.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 102 | $32,240 | $32,240 | $38,709 | $40,040 | $40,352 | $42,099 | $42,099 |
| FY2025 | 56 | $29,931 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $31,172 | $35,360 | $35,360 | $35,360 |
| FY2026 | 50 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $35,500 | $39,518 |
A median answers whether pay moved. 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
- FRONTIER LOGISTICS, L.P 69 filings · 100.0% approved
- Transcontinental AC US LLC 25 filings
- TRANSCONTINENTAL US LLC 22 filings
- Transcontinental Robbie Inc. 21 filings
- Riverence Provisions LLC 20 filings
- Transcontinental Ontario Inc. 19 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 176 of 214 filings, 82% of the total.
Firms filing it
- DELAFUENTE LAW LLC 105 filings · 100.0% approved
- JLJ Law Group, PLLC 69 filings · 100.0% approved
- Gibbs Houston Pauw 20 filings
- LAW OFFICES OF CHANG RYUL JI, PC 7 filings
- LAW FIRM OF KIM & MIN 5 filings
- Barry Lieber, Attorney at Law 1 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 207 of 214 filings, 97% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- South Carolina 62
- North Carolina 43
- Texas 32
- California 26
- Kansas 21
- Idaho 20
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 204 of 214 filings.
Where the work is
- North Charleston, SC 39
- La Porte, TX 29
- Ontario, CA 26
- Matthews, NC 25
- Spartanburg, SC 22
- Lenexa, KS 21
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 162 of 214 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
Newspapers it advertised in
- 39 cases
The Post and Courier
- 29 cases
Houston Chronicle
- 20 cases
Twin Falls Times News (See F.c.1)
- 7 cases
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
- 3 cases
Lamesa Press-Reporter
- 3 cases
The Salt Lake Tribune
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 1 cases
Job search websites
- 1 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 1 cases
Radio or TV ads
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.0%
30 to 59 days
- 2.8%
60 to 89 days
- 1.9%
90 to 119 days
- 21%
120 to 149 days
- 74%
150 to 180 days
- 0.0%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
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 States379,060 jobs
- Charleston-North Charleston, SCNorth Charleston
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TXLa Porte
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CAOntario
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMatthews
- Spartanburg, SCSpartanburg
- 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 | $43,220 | ||||
| Charleston-North Charleston, SC | $42,850 | $38,542 | $42,307 | $46,072 | $49,837 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $37,770 | $28,850 | $35,256 | $41,683 | $48,090 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $43,780 | $35,797 | $40,269 | $44,741 | $49,213 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $44,330 | $34,486 | $39,478 | $44,450 | $49,442 |
| Spartanburg, SC | $38,330 | $35,173 | $37,960 | $40,747 | $43,534 |
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 Charleston-North Charleston, SC, 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 | $38,542 | $42,307 | $46,072 | $49,837 |
| 2025-26 | $34,486 | $38,688 | $42,890 | $47,091 |
| 2024-25 | $32,282 | $36,650 | $41,038 | $45,406 |
| 2023-24 | $28,309 | $31,824 | $35,339 | $38,854 |
| 2022-23 | $27,581 | $32,032 | $36,504 | $40,955 |
| 2021-22 | $26,395 | $30,618 | $34,861 | $39,083 |
What the job is
Operate or tend machines to prepare industrial or consumer products for storage or shipment. Includes cannery workers who pack food products.
- 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
- +4.1%
- About 41,400 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
The work, most important first
- Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
- Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
- Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
- Observe machine operations to ensure quality and conformity of filled or packaged products to standards.
- Remove finished packaged items from machine and separate rejected items.
- Monitor the production line, watching for problems such as pile-ups, jams, or glue that isn't sticking properly.
The education workers in it report
- 80%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Titles people use for it
Bundler, Filler Operator, Machine Operator, Packaging Operator, Closing Machine Operator, Computer Numerical Control Machine Operator (CNC Machine Operator), Packing Attendant, Packing Machine Operator.
Related jobs: Packers and Packagers, Hand, Machine Feeders and Offbearers, Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders, Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders.
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 203 of 1,410 by volume: 202 filed at least as many filings, and 1,207 filed no more.
- Just above
- Chief Executives 215 filings
- Just below
- Graphic Designers 214 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.
- #201 Bakers 217 filings · 12 denied
- #210 First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers 202 filings · 13 denied
- #176 Slaughterers and Meat Packers 263 filings · 2 denied
- #235 Food Batchmakers 163 filings · 3 denied
- #263 Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers 137 filings · 1 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 $42,000 a year; the middle half ran $37,800 to $45,000. 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 51-9111.00. 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 214 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 Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 214 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 FRONTIER LOGISTICS, L.P. 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