Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,533
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$8,747
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,198
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$46,280
Kept after tax
$37,533
Worth in national money
$36,198
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Connecticut is 27 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,280. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Connecticut this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 379. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,280 the take-home is $37,533. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,198 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $48,190, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Connecticut ranks 27 of 49 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $46,280. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Connecticut reports, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ranks 379 of 482, 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $37,533 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, from $46,280. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,198. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $48,190 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,770 |
| This salary | $46,280 |
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 Connecticut | $37,533 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,366 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,312 |
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 | $43,999 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,215 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
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, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Connecticut earn under $46,280 and half over. The published range runs $37,110 at the tenth percentile to $64,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Connecticut's $37,533, worked from $46,280. 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 379 of 482.
- Two cautions on $36,198, the adjusted value of that $46,280 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Connecticut. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 379 of 482 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Connecticut, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,110 to $64,770; 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.
- The Connecticut take-home of $37,533, on $46,280 for work ranking 379 of 482 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 379 of 482 in the state.
- This $36,198 adjusted figure, worked from $46,280, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 379 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 379 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,190, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,110 and the top tenth $64,770, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Connecticut costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $36,198 rather than its face figure.
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; Connecticut then takes its own share, leaving $37,533.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 Connecticut is $48,190. 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 $64,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,198 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 $37,533 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.