Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,580
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$11,180
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,001
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — 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
$58,760
Kept after tax
$47,580
Worth in national money
$53,001
State rank
8
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $58,760, which ranks 8 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 21.05% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 176 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,760 you keep $47,580, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,001 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $56,690, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- West Virginia ranks 8 of 47 states publishing a median for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders, at $58,760 — about 21.05% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 176 of 473 in West Virginia 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 West Virginia income tax, retained pay for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders on $58,760 is $47,580. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,001 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 $56,690 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in 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 | $38,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,760 |
| This salary | $58,760 |
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 West Virginia | $47,580 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,394 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,171 |
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 | $56,503 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,626 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,760 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,220 and the ninetieth is $68,760 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $47,580, from $58,760, 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 176 of 473 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,001 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 176.
- The West Virginia median of $58,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,220 to $68,760. 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 West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,580 from $58,760. 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 176 of 473 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,001, worked from $58,760, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 176 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $56,690, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,220 at the bottom tenth to $68,760 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,001.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $47,580 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 West Virginia is $56,690. 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 ($38,220 to $68,760) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $53,001 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 $47,580 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia 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.