Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,334
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$10,966
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,044
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$58,300
Kept after tax
$47,334
Worth in national money
$42,044
State rank
22
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. California pays this job around $58,300 at the midpoint, 22 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 310.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $58,300, tax leaves $47,334 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $42,044 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $60,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- For chemical equipment operators and tenders the California median is $58,300, ranking 22 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In California's occupational distribution, chemical equipment operators and tenders sits at 310 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $47,334 remains from the California median of $58,300 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $42,044 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $60,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,620 |
| This salary | $58,300 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $47,334 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,024 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,405 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $56,196 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,165 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of chemical equipment operators and tenders in California earn under $58,300 and half over. The published range runs $42,160 at the tenth percentile to $80,620 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $47,334, from $58,300, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 310 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,044 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 310.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemical equipment operators and tenders in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,160 to $80,620; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,334 from $58,300. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 310 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,044, worked from $58,300, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 310 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $60,460, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,160 at the bottom tenth to $80,620 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $42,044 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $47,334 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $60,460. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,160 to $80,620) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $42,044 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $47,334 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.