Before any numbers, something worth knowing about Midwest manufacturing salary data: it is less reliable than it looks.
Take a plant manager in Ohio. Bureau of Labor Statistics-derived figures put the median around $103,230. ZipRecruiter’s average is $110,680. Indeed’s posting-based average is $119,877. Salary.com reports $187,111.
Same role, same state, same year, and an 80% spread between the lowest and highest published figures. Any salary guide that gives you one number for that role is choosing a source and not telling you.
This guide covers what industrial roles pay across the Midwest, state by state where the data supports it. It also explains why the sources disagree, because knowing how to read a salary figure is more useful than memorizing one. It is the companion to our Northeast industrial salary benchmarks.
Why Published Salary Data Disagrees So Badly
Three types of source are in circulation and they measure genuinely different things.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics comes from a survey of employers reporting wages they actually pay. It is the most methodologically sound figure available and it is what economists use. Its weaknesses are lag — the current release has a May 2025 reference period — and aggregation. BLS groups titles into occupational categories, so “industrial production managers” contains plant managers, production managers, and operations managers at facilities of wildly different sizes. It also captures base wages better than it captures bonus and incentive compensation.
Posting-derived data from ZipRecruiter, Indeed and similar sources reflects advertised pay. That makes it current, which is genuinely valuable, but advertised pay is a negotiating position rather than an outcome. Postings also skew toward base-only figures and toward employers willing to publish a range at all.
Modeled benchmark data from Salary.com and similar providers builds a figure from job description scope, company size, and market factors. This is why those numbers run high: the model prices a fully-scoped version of the title at a substantial employer. For a plant manager running 600 people and a nine-figure P&L, $187,000 may be accurate. For a plant manager at a 45-person job shop with the same title, it is not.
The practical rule. Use BLS as the anchor and the floor. Use posting data for what the market is currently advertising. Use modeled data for large-employer scoping. And when a candidate or an employer quotes you a number, the first question is always what scope it describes — headcount, P&L, number of sites, whether the role carries capital authority.
The Midwest Manufacturing Base
The region is not one labor market, and the differences between its states matter for benchmarking.
By manufacturing employment as of August 2026, Ohio leads at roughly 688,300 jobs, followed by Michigan at about 583,300, Illinois at about 571,400, Indiana at about 516,900, and Wisconsin at about 458,400. Those five states together represent one of the densest concentrations of industrial employment in the country.
On average manufacturing pay, 2024 QCEW data put Ohio at about $76,503 across all manufacturing roles with 5.4% annual growth, and Michigan at about $82,422 with 5.1% growth. Michigan’s premium reflects its automotive concentration and union density.
For current national context, BLS reported average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees at $32.60 in September 2026, with manufacturing employment up roughly 72,000 since its December 2025 low.
Leadership Roles
Plant manager / industrial production manager. The BLS category of industrial production managers has a national median of $126,060 as of May 2025, with the middle half earning roughly $98,160 to $161,880 and the 10th percentile at $78,000.
State-level BLS-derived medians: Ohio around $103,230, Michigan around $111,130, Indiana around $105,320.
Posting and modeled sources run higher, as discussed — ZipRecruiter puts Ohio at $110,680 with a 10th-to-90th percentile band of $65,598 to $153,537, while Salary.com reports Ohio at $187,111 and Michigan at $189,129.
How to read this: a single-site plant manager at a mid-size Midwest facility is realistically in the $105,000 to $140,000 range, with larger multi-shift operations and regulated industries reaching higher. The $180,000-plus figures describe large-plant or multi-site scope. Our analysis of why plant manager roles stay open covers why this role is harder to fill than the pay alone would suggest.
Engineering Roles
Process engineering manager. Salary.com reports Ohio at $138,919, Michigan at $140,530, and Indiana at $136,950. ZipRecruiter’s Ohio average is considerably lower at $116,427. The gap again reflects scope — a process engineering manager with a team and capital responsibility versus a senior individual contributor carrying the title.
Controls engineer. This is the role where Midwest demand is most acute, and the state figures sit relatively close together: Illinois around $107,860, Michigan $106,070, Indiana $102,670, Ohio $100,620, Wisconsin $99,700. The BLS national median for controls engineering work is higher at $120,630, which suggests Midwest controls engineers are paid somewhat below the national figure despite strong regional demand — a gap worth knowing if you are hiring against coastal competition for the same candidates.
Controls engineering manager is the least reliable figure in this guide. ZipRecruiter puts Ohio at $91,812 while Salary.com puts it at $136,684 and Michigan at $138,237. That is a 50% spread and it almost certainly reflects two different jobs sharing a title. Benchmark this one against your own scope rather than any published number.
Quality management. Salary.com’s quality control manager figures run Michigan $119,078, Wisconsin $118,945, Ohio $117,803, Indiana $116,067. Its quality engineering manager category runs materially higher — Illinois $135,171, Michigan $130,596, Wisconsin $130,450, Ohio $129,124, Indiana $127,294 — which reflects the engineering-weighted version of the role in regulated and automotive environments.
Maintenance and Skilled Trades
Maintenance manager. Salary.com’s national average is $146,593, with Midwest states clustered just below: Michigan $144,365, Wisconsin $144,204, Ohio $142,738, Indiana $140,715. Treat these as the upper end — modeled data prices a multi-crew maintenance manager at a substantial facility. Mid-size Midwest plants commonly run $95,000 to $125,000 for this role.
Machinists. The BLS national median is $58,750 as of May 2025, with the top 10% above $80,010. Midwest rates track close to national given the region’s machining density, with premiums for 5-axis and programming capability. Our CNC machinist career path guide breaks out the full progression.
Production and nonsupervisory hourly. The national figure of $32.60 per hour as of September 2026 is a useful benchmark for plant floor roles, with Michigan typically above it and Indiana and Ohio closer to or slightly below.
Supervision, Safety and Support Roles
Production supervisor. The least well-documented tier in published data, because the title spans a crew lead with twelve people and a department supervisor running three shifts. Midwest ranges commonly sit between $65,000 and $95,000, with the upper end at larger automotive and regulated facilities and generally including an overtime-exempt structure that candidates should examine carefully.
EHS manager. A role our own market data flags as among the hardest to fill, with rates moving 6 to 10% over 24 months in Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. Midwest EHS managers broadly track the $85,000 to $115,000 band, reaching $120,000 to $140,000 at regulated chemical, pharmaceutical and aerospace facilities where EHS complexity is highest, and multi-site EHS directors sit above $130,000. OSHA 30 is baseline rather than differentiating; the genuinely scarce profiles carry VPP participation, ISO 45001 implementation, or process safety management experience.
Industrial engineer. Demand consistently outstrips supply, a dynamic covered in our analysis of the industrial engineer shortage. Midwest industrial engineers commonly run $80,000 to $105,000, with the premium going to candidates who combine traditional IE skills with data analytics capability.
Materials and supply chain management. Plant-level materials managers in the Midwest typically fall between $90,000 and $125,000, with the range widening considerably at multi-site scope. Automotive supply chain roles carry a premium reflecting the consequences of a line-down event.
State by State: The Quick Read
Ohio is the largest manufacturing employer in the region at roughly 688,300 jobs, with broad sector diversity across automotive, plastics, metals, and chemicals. Average manufacturing pay around $76,503 with 5.4% annual growth. The deepest candidate pool in the Midwest and consequently the most competitive hiring market in several metros.
Michigan carries the region’s highest average manufacturing pay at roughly $82,422, driven by automotive concentration and union density, against about 583,300 manufacturing jobs. Expect to benchmark above regional averages for engineering and skilled trades, particularly in the Detroit corridor.
Illinois sits at approximately 571,400 manufacturing jobs and tops the region for several engineering titles, including controls engineers and quality engineering managers, reflecting the Chicago metro’s cost structure and industrial density.
Indiana holds about 516,900 manufacturing jobs with strong automotive, pharmaceutical and metals presence. Benchmarks generally run slightly below Ohio and Michigan on comparable roles, which makes it a cost-advantaged location for employers and a point candidates should factor into offer comparisons.
Wisconsin has roughly 458,400 manufacturing jobs concentrated in machinery, food processing, and paper. Maintenance and quality roles benchmark close to the regional average; controls engineering sits at the lower end of the five states.
What Moves a Number Within the Midwest
Five factors explain most of the variance inside a single state, and they matter more than the state itself.
Metro versus rural. A controls engineer in metro Detroit, Chicago, or Columbus commands materially more than one at a rural plant two hours out — which is also why rural plants struggle to hire them and why relocation enters the picture.
Industry. Automotive and aerospace pay above the regional average. Food and beverage and consumer products typically pay below it. Plastics and metals sit in between, and regulated work — pharmaceutical, medical device — carries a premium at the quality and engineering levels.
Union presence. Significant in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, particularly in automotive. It raises floor wages and compresses the range on hourly roles.
Plant size. The single biggest driver of the spread in every leadership figure in this guide. A plant manager’s compensation tracks headcount, shift pattern, and P&L scale far more closely than it tracks geography.
Shift differential and overtime. For hourly roles, published base figures understate actual earnings. Second and third shift premiums plus overtime frequently add 15 to 25% to take-home pay, which is why a posted hourly rate often looks lower than what workers report earning.
Where Pay Is Heading
Three signals worth factoring into 2027 planning.
Wage growth has been running ahead of national averages. Ohio manufacturing pay grew 5.4% and Michigan 5.1% in the most recent full-year QCEW data, against national average hourly earnings growth that has since decelerated to around 3.0%. That gap suggests Midwest manufacturers have been competing harder on pay than the national picture implies.
Hiring has resumed. Manufacturing employment nationally is up roughly 72,000 since its December 2025 low, including gains in machinery manufacturing — a category heavily concentrated in this region. A recovering sector means the competitive pressure on skilled technical roles is increasing rather than easing.
The scarce roles are getting scarcer faster. Controls engineers, maintenance technicians with electrical depth, and EHS professionals with process safety credentials are where the rate movement is concentrated. Benchmarking those roles against a figure more than a year old will leave you below market.
How to Actually Use This
If you are hiring: benchmark against scope rather than title. Define headcount, shift pattern, P&L, and capital authority first, then set the range. Check current posting data in your specific metro for what competitors are advertising right now, because that is what your candidates are seeing. And remember that modeled benchmarks price a larger version of your role than you probably have.
If you are a candidate: do not anchor on a single published figure in either direction. Ask what the scope is before you accept a number as comparable, and establish early whether the quoted figure is base or total compensation, because in manufacturing leadership the bonus component is frequently 10 to 25%.
For both: treat any number in this guide as a starting point for a conversation rather than an answer. The honest position is that published salary data for manufacturing roles is good enough to establish a range and not good enough to settle a negotiation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a plant manager make in the Midwest?
BLS-derived state medians put Ohio around $103,230, Michigan around $111,130, and Indiana around $105,320, against a national median of $126,060 for industrial production managers as of May 2025. Posting and modeled sources run from $110,000 to as high as $187,000, with the difference largely explained by scope. A realistic range for a single-site mid-size Midwest plant manager is $105,000 to $140,000, with larger multi-shift and regulated operations above that.
Which Midwest state pays manufacturing workers the most?
On average manufacturing pay across all roles, Michigan leads the states covered here at roughly $82,422 against Ohio’s $76,503, reflecting automotive concentration and union density. At individual role level the ordering changes — Illinois tops the list for controls engineers and quality engineering managers, for instance. State matters less than metro, industry, plant size and union status.
Why do salary websites show such different numbers?
Because they measure different things. BLS surveys employers on wages actually paid, which makes it the most reliable but also the most lagged and the most aggregated. Posting sites report advertised pay, which is current but reflects a negotiating position and often base only. Modeled benchmark providers price a fully-scoped version of a title at a substantial employer, which is why their figures run highest. None is wrong; they answer different questions.
How much does shift differential add in Midwest manufacturing?
For hourly roles, second and third shift premiums combined with overtime commonly add 15 to 25% above base. This is why published hourly rates frequently look lower than what workers report earning, and it is worth quantifying explicitly in a job posting, since a $2.00 per hour differential is a meaningful part of the offer that gets lost in the phrase “shift differential available.”
The Bottom Line
The Midwest holds one of the densest concentrations of industrial employment in the country, and compensation across it is more variable than regional averages suggest — driven by plant size, industry, metro proximity and union presence far more than by which state the facility sits in.
The figures above are useful for setting a range. They are not precise enough to settle an offer, and anyone presenting them as though they were has not looked at how far the sources diverge.
Benchmark on scope, check what competitors are advertising in your actual market, and treat a single published number with the skepticism an 80% spread deserves.
For manufacturers benchmarking compensation or struggling to fill roles at current ranges: connect with the Talent Traction team for market-specific intelligence on what offers are actually closing candidates in your region.
For manufacturing professionals evaluating an offer or a move: reach out to Talent Traction to discuss what your scope and experience are worth in the current Midwest market.
