Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,507
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$7,773
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,191
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — 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
$42,280
Kept after tax
$34,507
Worth in national money
$33,191
State rank
44
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $42,280, ranking 44 of 47 states — about 12.9% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Maryland, this one sits low: 415 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $42,280, tax leaves $34,507 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $33,191 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $45,610, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland ranks 44 of 47 for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders, with a median of $42,280 — about 12.9% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders occupies position 415 of 489 in Maryland's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $34,507 remains from the Maryland median of $42,280 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $33,191 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $45,610 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $35,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,600 |
| This salary | $42,280 |
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 Maryland | $34,507 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,152 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,012 |
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 | $40,233 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,852 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,280 as a midpoint for Maryland, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,890 and the ninetieth is $66,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $34,507, from $42,280, 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 415 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 $33,191 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. 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 415.
- The Maryland median of $42,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,890 to $66,600. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,507 from $42,280. 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 415 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,191, worked from $42,280, 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 Maryland address, on work sitting at 415 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 $45,610, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,890, the highest tenth $66,600, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Maryland costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $33,191 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 Maryland's own levy, $34,507 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Maryland is $45,610. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($35,890) and the ninetieth ($66,600) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $33,191 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 $34,507 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland 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.