Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,980
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$8,780
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,166
Massachusetts costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Massachusetts — 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
$45,760
Kept after tax
$36,980
Worth in national money
$34,166
State rank
31
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Massachusetts sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $45,760, ranking 31 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Massachusetts, this one sits low: 411 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $45,760, tax leaves $36,980 — and because Massachusetts is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $34,166 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $49,360, since top earners drag the number up.
- Massachusetts occupies the middle band for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic: a median of $45,760, ranking 31 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 411 of 485 in Massachusetts'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.
- After tax, $36,980 remains from the Massachusetts median of $45,760 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $34,166 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $49,360 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 | $37,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,160 |
| This salary | $45,760 |
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 Massachusetts | $36,980 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,948 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,915 |
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 | $43,311 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,153 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,760 as a midpoint for Massachusetts, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,460 and the ninetieth is $64,160 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Massachusetts's $36,980, worked from $45,760. 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 411 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,166 uses one figure for the whole of Massachusetts. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 411.
- The Massachusetts median of $45,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,460 to $64,160. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Massachusetts take-home of $36,980, on $45,760 for work ranking 411 of 485 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 411 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,166, worked from $45,760, 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 Massachusetts address, on work sitting at 411 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,360, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,460 at the tenth percentile, $64,160 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Massachusetts run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $34,166 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Massachusetts's own levy, $36,980 remains.
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 49 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 Massachusetts is $49,360. 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 ($37,460 to $64,160) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Massachusetts rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Massachusetts's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,166 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 $36,980 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Massachusetts 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.