Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,722
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$8,788
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,654
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$45,510
Kept after tax
$36,722
Worth in national money
$38,654
State rank
28
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Utah is 28 of 47 states for this job, with a middle wage of $45,510. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Utah, this sits in the middle: 356 of 487 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,510 you keep $36,722 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,654 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $46,160, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah ranks 28 of 47 for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders at $45,510. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders ranks 356 of 487 occupations in Utah by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Utah is $36,722 after the full tax stack, from $45,510. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,654 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $46,160 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,810 |
| This salary | $45,510 |
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 Utah | $36,722 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,747 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,220 |
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 | $42,990 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,475 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Utah earn under $45,510 and half over. The published range runs $35,330 at the tenth percentile to $59,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,722 take-home in Utah comes from $45,510. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 356 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,654, the adjusted value of that $45,510 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 356 of 487 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,330 to $59,810; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $36,722, from $45,510, assumes a single Utah filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 356 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 47 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $38,654 — the adjusted value of that $45,510 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 356 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,330 at the tenth percentile, $59,810 at the ninetieth.
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 $38,654.
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 Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,722 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,330 to $59,810) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $38,654 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 $36,722 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.