Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,249
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,861
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,975
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
$46,110
Kept after tax
$38,249
Worth in national money
$33,975
State rank
26
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. California is 26 of 47 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,110. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within California this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 417. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $46,110 the take-home is $38,249; in national-average money that behaves like $33,975. The average comes to $47,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California ranks 26 of 47 for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders at $46,110. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation California reports, cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders ranks 417 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Take-home for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in California, on $46,110, is $38,249; deflated by the state's price level, $33,975. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $47,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,820 |
| This salary | $46,110 |
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 | $38,249 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,229 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,395 |
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 | $44,890 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,734 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $46,110. The published range is $37,110 up to $61,820, 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 California's $38,249, worked from $46,110. 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 417 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,975, the adjusted value of that $46,110 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 417 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,110 to $61,820. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $38,249, on $46,110 for work ranking 417 of 492 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 417 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $33,975 — the adjusted value of that $46,110 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 417 of 492 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 $47,580, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,110 at the tenth percentile, $61,820 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,975 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,249 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $47,580. 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 ($37,110 to $61,820) 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 $33,975 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 $38,249 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.