Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,738
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$6,842
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,809
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$39,580
Kept after tax
$32,738
Worth in national money
$35,809
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $39,580, ranking 47 of 49 states — about 14.57% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Idaho, this one sits low: 393 of 476 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,580 you keep $32,738 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,809 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $42,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- Idaho ranks 47 of 49 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $39,580 — about 14.57% 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.
- Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 393 of 476 in Idaho'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.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $32,738 after the full tax stack, from $39,580. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,809 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $42,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $36,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,540 |
| This salary | $39,580 |
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 Idaho | $32,738 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,983 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$838 |
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 | $38,031 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,014 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 Idaho earn under $39,580 and half over. The published range runs $36,240 at the tenth percentile to $50,540 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 Idaho's $32,738, worked from $39,580. 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 393 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,809 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 393.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,240 to $50,540; 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 Idaho take-home of $32,738, on $39,580 for work ranking 393 of 476 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 393 of 476 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,809, worked from $39,580, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 393 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $42,920, 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 $36,240 and the top tenth $50,540, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $35,809 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $32,738.
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 Idaho is $42,920. 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 ($36,240 to $50,540) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $35,809 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 $32,738 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.