Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,463
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$6,447
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,526
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$38,910
Kept after tax
$32,463
Worth in national money
$37,526
State rank
45
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arkansas pays this job a middle wage of $38,910, 45 of 47 states and about 19.84% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 345 among 489 occupations Arkansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,910 you keep $32,463, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,526 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,350, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas's $38,910 median for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders places it 45 of 47 states, about 19.84% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 345 of 489 in Arkansas places crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders on $38,910 is $32,463. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,526 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 $41,350 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,540 |
| This salary | $38,910 |
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 Arkansas | $32,463 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,444 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,110 |
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 | $37,689 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,761 |
| 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 Arkansas earn less than $38,910. The published range is $32,470 up to $50,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Arkansas the take-home figure of $32,463, from $38,910, 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 345 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,526 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 345.
- Reported values are medians; for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,470 to $50,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Arkansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,463 from $38,910. 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 345 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,526, worked from $38,910, 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 Arkansas address, on work sitting at 345 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,350, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,470 at the tenth percentile, $50,540 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $37,526 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; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $32,463.
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 Arkansas is $41,350. 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 ($32,470 to $50,540) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas'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 $37,526 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 $32,463 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.