First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers Salary

The median first-line supervisors of production and operating workers salary in the United States is $74,450 per year ($35.79/hour). Salaries range from $47,130 at the entry level to $108,750+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 673,430 first-line supervisors of production and operating workers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to grow 1.2% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$74,450
per year
Hourly Rate
$35.79
per hour
Employment
673,430
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$47,130
25th percentile
$58,630
Median
$74,450
75th percentile
$91,680
90th percentile
$108,750

Job Growth (2024-2034)

+1.2%
Slower than average

Annual Openings

67,700
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

High school diploma or equivalent
+ Less than 5 years experience

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for first-line supervisors of production and operating workerss.

Production supervisors run the shift on a factory floor β€” the shift supervisor at a Ford assembly plant, the production supervisor at a Frito-Lay bakery, the packaging line supervisor at a Pfizer or Merck fill-finish site, the shift lead at a General Mills cereal plant, the fabrication supervisor at a Boeing 737 line. You own a shift of 8-40 hourly production workers, hit the shift's production quota, keep the line running safely, run the shift-change handoff, own downtime tracking, and lead the kaizen and TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) huddle. Pay is $47,130 (p10) β†’ $74,450 (median) β†’ $108,750 (p90) across 673,430 jobs. Union auto and pharma sit at the top, food processing and general manufacturing sit around the median, and non-union light-manufacturing sits at the bottom. The promotion path is Line Lead β†’ Supervisor β†’ Sr Supervisor / Value Stream Manager β†’ Operations Manager β†’ Plant Manager, and Plant Manager pay at large manufacturers runs $145-235k plus bonus and LTIP.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Shift production quota & OEE management
Own the shift's units-per-hour, cycle time, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE = Availability Γ— Performance Γ— Quality). Read the andon board or MES dashboard in real time; adjust staffing, rate, or line balance as the shift progresses. Miss the shift number and you owe the plant manager a root-cause note before the next morning's stand-up.
OSHA compliance & safety stand-downs
OSHA 30-hour General Industry (or Construction) is the baseline; larger sites layer on internal safety certifications. Own daily safety walk, LOTO (lockout/tagout) verification on your shift, PPE compliance, near-miss reporting, and the safety stand-down whenever an OSHA recordable happens on your line. Zero-injury culture is a real KPI and it's how supervisors get promoted.
Lean / Kaizen / TPM fluency
Toyota Production System (TPS) heritage runs through every serious manufacturer. Own the daily kaizen board, run a 5S audit on your shift's area, participate in TPM autonomous-maintenance activities, and lead value-stream mapping when a bottleneck emerges. Green Belt or Yellow Belt Six Sigma certification is a common gate to Sr Supervisor.
Downtime tracking & root-cause analysis
Every unplanned stop gets logged in the MES (Rockwell FactoryTalk, Wonderware/AVEVA, SAP MII, Ignition, GE Proficy) with a downtime code. You own the daily Pareto β€” top 5 downtime causes get 5-Why or fishbone analysis and a corrective action assigned by the next shift. Chronic downtime causes escalate to a Kaizen event.
Shift handoff & production reporting
The 15-minute shift handoff is where breakage happens or gets caught. Cover: units produced vs plan, quality holds, downtime events, safety concerns, staffing for the next shift, open work orders. Log everything in the shift log or MES. A missed handoff item that surfaces mid-next-shift is a documented supervisor coaching moment.
ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 / GMP / HACCP compliance
The applicable quality standard varies β€” ISO 9001 general manufacturing, IATF 16949 automotive, cGMP pharma, HACCP food, AS9100 aerospace. Own the shift's quality checks, non-conformance documentation, deviations, and CAPA (corrective / preventive action) execution. External audit findings on your shift are career limiters.
Labor scheduling & union-contract fluency
In union plants (UAW, USW, Teamsters, BCTGM, IUOE), the collective bargaining agreement governs seniority-based shift bidding, forced overtime rules, break relief, and vacation approvals. Get it wrong and you generate a grievance. In non-union sites, chain workforce systems (Kronos, UKG, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors) drive scheduling. Weekend / holiday / overtime coverage is a supervisor lever.
Coaching, discipline & progressive corrective action
Deliver in-the-moment coaching, documented verbal, written, final, and termination β€” with HR and (in union sites) union-steward representation at each step. Wrongful-termination and grievance-arbitration cases are supervisor career-enders when the paper trail is thin.

How to Become a First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers

  1. 1
    Start as a production operator, machine operator, or maintenance apprentice
    $18-32/hr depending on industry (auto, pharma, and unionized food are top; general manufacturing is lower). Run a machine, learn the process, and cross-train on 2-3 adjacent stations. The best supervisors know every job on the line.
  2. 2
    Get promoted to Line Lead / Team Lead / Cell Leader
    $22-38/hr. You'll take direction from a shift supervisor but coordinate 4-8 operators, run the line balance during a break, and start filling in on the supervisor's tasks during their PTO.
  3. 3
    Earn OSHA 30, a Six Sigma Yellow or Green Belt, and internal supervisor training
    OSHA 30 is table stakes at any serious manufacturer. Yellow Belt is a weekend course; Green Belt is 4-6 months. Most plants run an internal supervisor development program (usually 6-16 weeks blended) that gates promotion into salaried roles.
  4. 4
    Move into a salaried Production Supervisor / Shift Supervisor role
    $65-95k base + 5-15% bonus + medical + 401(k) match. You own a shift, a value stream, or a production cell β€” production number, safety, quality, cost, delivery, and people. In pharma and semiconductor sites, base can start at $80-110k.
  5. 5
    Advance to Sr Supervisor / Value Stream Manager / Operations Manager, then Plant Manager
    Sr Supervisor / VSM: $95-135k. Ops Manager: $120-180k. Plant Manager: $145-235k + bonus + LTIP. Some supervisors specialize (safety, quality, continuous improvement) and move into corporate roles at that layer without going to plant leadership.

Career Progression

Line Lead / Team Lead / Cell Leader
0-3 yrs$22-38/hr ($46-78k annualized) + shift differential + OT
  • β€’Coordinate 4-8 operators on a single line or cell
  • β€’Cover break relief and manage line balance during outages
  • β€’First-level troubleshooting on quality defects and micro-stops
  • β€’Fill in for shift supervisor during PTO and short absences
  • β€’Coach on standard work and 5S basics
Next: Production Supervisor at 2-4 years, once you've run the shift solo and completed the plant supervisor training.
Production Supervisor / Shift Supervisor
3-8 yrs$65-95k base + 5-15% bonus + shift differential ($75-115k total)
  • β€’Own a shift of 8-40 hourly workers, exempt salaried
  • β€’Hit shift production quota, quality yield, and safety zero-injury
  • β€’Own the daily kaizen board and downtime Pareto
  • β€’Run the shift-change handoff and shift log entry
  • β€’Deliver documented corrective actions with HR / union involvement
  • β€’Owner of one value stream or production cell's monthly KPI scorecard
Next: Sr Supervisor / Value Stream Manager at 6-10 years.
Sr Supervisor / Value Stream Manager / Area Manager
6-12 yrs$95-135k base + 10-20% bonus + LTIP ($110-165k total)
  • β€’Own multiple shifts or an entire value stream (2-6 cells)
  • β€’Direct-reports 4-8 shift supervisors + indirect 40-150 hourly
  • β€’Own the value stream's P&L: labor, material, overhead, cost per unit
  • β€’Lead kaizen events; own the Hoshin Kanri (policy deployment) rows for the value stream
  • β€’Interface with quality, maintenance, engineering, and supply chain on the daily ops meeting
Next: Operations Manager at 10-15 years, or lateral to a bigger value stream.
Operations Manager / Plant Manager
12+ yrs$130-235k base + 15-30% bonus + LTIP ($160-320k total)
  • β€’Own the plant P&L β€” sales, cost, capex, safety, quality, employee engagement
  • β€’Direct-reports value stream managers, quality manager, maintenance manager, EHS, HR
  • β€’Own the plant's annual operating plan, capital plan, and Hoshin Kanri deployment
  • β€’Interface with corporate operations, engineering, finance, and the union (if applicable)
  • β€’Own the site safety culture β€” every OSHA recordable is a personal accountability
Next: Regional Ops Director, VP Manufacturing, or Chief Manufacturing Officer.

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 20 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through a shift where you missed the production number.case
Structure: (1) the shift plan β€” target units, staffing, expected line rate. (2) The specific miss β€” what went wrong (a changeover took 40 minutes over standard, a quality hold on 3 pallets, an operator called out). (3) What you did in the moment β€” reallocated staffing, re-ran the changeover with the maintenance tech shadowing, flexed a Line Lead onto the missing station. (4) The root cause you found in the shift-end debrief β€” usually one of the top-5 chronic downtime codes. (5) The corrective action you owned to the next shift and the following week's tier meeting. Weak answer: 'we ran short and I told the plant manager.' Strong answer: quantified, owned, closed the loop.
Q2. An operator refuses to wear their PPE. What do you do?situational
Stop the line if the PPE is required for the operation being performed β€” safety trumps production. Pull the operator aside, ask why (sometimes it's a fit problem, sometimes a heat problem, sometimes defiance). Fix the underlying issue if it's fit or heat β€” get them the right size, offer a cooling break. If it's defiance, deliver the documented corrective-action conversation with the union steward present (in union plants) or the HR partner (in non-union). Never let it slide β€” one operator without PPE undermines the entire safety culture and puts the plant's OSHA record at risk.
Q3. How do you run a shift-change handoff?technical
Standing meeting at the same spot, same time, every shift β€” usually 15 minutes and it starts on time. Cover in order: safety (any near-misses, injuries, safety concerns), production (units vs plan, changeovers coming up), quality (any holds, non-conformances, in-process concerns), maintenance (open work orders, PM schedule), staffing (callouts, upcoming absences, cross-training), open actions from prior shift. Every item logged in the MES shift log or the physical shift log. Never let the outgoing supervisor leave until the incoming supervisor has acknowledged every open item.
Q4. Describe a Kaizen event you led.behavioral
STAR. Situation: a chronic downtime code (say, changeover time on Line 4) running 40% over standard. Task: reduce by 25% in 4 weeks. Action: pulled a cross-functional team (2 operators, 1 maintenance, 1 quality, 1 industrial engineer), value-stream-mapped the changeover, ran SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) analysis, converted 8 external tasks to parallel work, standardized the sequence with a laminated one-pager at the line. Result: changeover time dropped from 52 minutes to 34 minutes, standard rewritten, savings roughly $180k annualized in recovered production hours. Interviewers want to hear you ran the process rigorously, engaged operators, and quantified the outcome.
Q5. Why do you want to move from operator into supervisor?closer
The honest answer: you like solving the shift's problems more than running one machine, you want ownership bigger than one station, and you want a pipeline to Value Stream Manager and eventually Plant Manager. Show you understand the trade β€” supervisors work longer hours, get called at 2 AM when the line goes down, and lose the overtime premium that hourly workers earn. Naming a specific plant program (LSS Green Belt, Toyota Kata, an internal leadership rotation) signals that you've thought concretely about the path.

Resume Template β€” Line Lead / Team Lead (0-3 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Line Lead / Team Lead (0-3 yrs)
  • β–ΈLine Lead on a 6-station packaging line at [Frito-Lay / General Mills / equivalent] producing 220 cases/hour; coordinated 6 operators across the shift.
  • β–ΈOSHA 30 (General Industry) certified 2024; Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt in progress. Zero recordable injuries on my shift in 22 months.
  • β–ΈLed a Kaizen event on carton-changeover time that cut standard from 12 minutes to 8 minutes, saving an estimated $95k annualized in recovered production.
  • β–ΈCross-trained on all 6 stations plus forklift certification. Filled in for shift supervisor during 3 weeks of PTO in FY24.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—Any OSHA recordable on your shift that traces to a supervisor failure (missed LOTO verification, PPE non-enforcement, unaddressed near-miss) β€” this is a career limiter and often terminable.
  • βœ—Missing the production number multiple weeks running without a documented root cause and corrective action β€” signals the supervisor doesn't own the shift.
  • βœ—Poor union relationship β€” supervisors in union plants who accumulate grievances are a liability regardless of production numbers.
  • βœ—Fudging quality records or downtime codes to protect the shift's numbers β€” the fastest firing offense in serious manufacturing, and in pharma/food it's a regulatory issue.
  • βœ—No Lean / Kaizen fluency β€” every serious manufacturer runs a production system (TPS, Danaher Business System, DuPont Production System, Boeing Production System). Not speaking the language is a screen-out.
  • βœ—Weak shift-handoff discipline β€” the biggest tell that a supervisor doesn't run a tight shift.
  • βœ—Can't read a P&L or a value-stream cost per unit β€” Sr Supervisor and above must own the money, not just the units.
  • βœ—Cannot deliver a corrective-action conversation cleanly with HR / union β€” you'll generate wrongful-termination exposure and grievances that go to arbitration.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification β€” worth $8-15k on entry into salaried supervisor roles and $15-30k into Sr Supervisor / VSM.
  • βœ“OSHA 30 (General Industry or Construction) plus a specialty safety cert (CSP, ASP, GSP) β€” table stakes in serious manufacturing and worth premium in high-hazard sites (chemical, oil & gas).
  • βœ“Willingness to run night shift or weekend shift β€” most plants pay a 10-15% shift differential on top of base for off-shift supervisors.
  • βœ“Union-plant experience β€” supervisors who've run a UAW, USW, Teamsters, or BCTGM shop are premium hires in the next union plant that opens; worth 5-10% over non-union baseline.
  • βœ“Industry-specific certifications β€” cGMP (pharma), IATF 16949 (auto), AS9100 (aerospace), SQF or BRCGS (food) β€” worth 5-15% premium in the specific vertical.
  • βœ“Bonus structure β€” most salaried supervisors get 5-15% bonus tied to safety, quality, delivery, cost. Understand the target, the weightings, and the payout curve before signing.
  • βœ“Metro adjustment β€” Southeast US auto corridor (KY, TN, AL, GA), Gulf Coast petrochem, and California pharma all pay premiums 10-25% over baseline manufacturing.
  • βœ“Sign-on bonus + relocation β€” routine for supervisors moving into a hard-to-staff plant (rural sites, hot climates, 24/7 continuous operations).

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First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$63K
$90Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Wyoming
$90K
+21%
Connecticut
$83K
+12%
Rhode Island
$82K
+10%
New Jersey
$81K
+9%
District of Columbia
$80K
+7%
Massachusetts
$80K
+7%
New Hampshire
$79K
+7%
Washington
$79K
+7%
Delaware
$79K
+6%
Maine
$79K
+6%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Wyoming$90,390+21.4%
Connecticut$83,150+11.7%
Rhode Island$81,650+9.7%
New Jersey$81,110+8.9%
District of Columbia$80,030+7.5%
Massachusetts$79,920+7.3%
New Hampshire$79,310+6.5%
Washington$79,310+6.5%
Delaware$79,100+6.2%
Maine$78,970+6.1%
1–10 of 51

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA$115,340+54.9%
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT$105,690+42.0%
Lexington Park, MD$99,980+34.3%
Baton Rouge, LA$95,810+28.7%
Lake Charles, LA$92,560+24.3%
Spartanburg, SC$92,070+23.7%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$91,500+22.9%
Decatur, IL$91,450+22.8%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$89,970+20.8%
Paducah, KY-IL$87,030+16.9%
1–10 of 395
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A first-line supervisors of production and operating workers earning $74,450/year would need 801 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 860 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
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πŸ“ˆ See how first-line supervisors of production and operating workers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’