Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,491
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$9,349
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,673
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$46,840
Kept after tax
$37,491
Worth in national money
$41,673
State rank
24
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kansas is 24 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,840. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 322 among 488 occupations Kansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,840 you keep $37,491 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,673 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,770, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas ranks 24 of 49 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $46,840. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 322 of 488 in Kansas places cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 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.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $37,491 after the full tax stack, from $46,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,673 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,770 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 | $36,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,150 |
| This salary | $46,840 |
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 Kansas | $37,491 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,816 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$699 |
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 | $43,946 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$846 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 Kansas earn under $46,840 and half over. The published range runs $36,360 at the tenth percentile to $63,150 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kansas the take-home figure of $37,491, from $46,840, 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 322 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,673 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 322.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,360 to $63,150; 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.
- Take-home for Kansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,491 from $46,840. 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 322 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,673, worked from $46,840, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 322 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,360 at the bottom tenth to $63,150 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,673 in national terms.
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 Kansas's own levy, $37,491 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Kansas is $48,770. 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 ($36,360 to $63,150) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas'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 $41,673 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 $37,491 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.