Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,867
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$10,303
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,108
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$53,170
Kept after tax
$42,867
Worth in national money
$49,108
State rank
7
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $53,170, ranking 7 of 50 states and sitting about 10.2% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 486 occupations Mississippi reports figures for, this is number 202.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,170 you keep $42,867, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,108 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,580, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi's median for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders is $53,170, about 10.2% above the national figure and 7 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Mississippi's occupational distribution, coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 202 of 486 — 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 federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders on $53,170 is $42,867. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,108 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $54,580 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,790 |
| This salary | $53,170 |
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 Mississippi | $42,867 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,902 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,900 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $50,638 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,508 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $53,170. The published range is $36,190 up to $73,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Mississippi's $42,867, worked from $53,170. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 202 of 486.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,108 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 202.
- Reported values are medians; for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,190 to $73,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Mississippi take-home of $42,867, on $53,170 for work ranking 202 of 486 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 202 of 486 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,108, worked from $53,170, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 202 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,190 and the top tenth $73,790, so most people doing this work in Mississippi sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $49,108 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $42,867.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,190 to $73,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $49,108 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $42,867 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.