Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,619
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$8,871
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,903
Montana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Montana — 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
$48,490
Kept after tax
$39,619
Worth in national money
$43,903
State rank
10
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Montana's middle earner gets $48,490, putting the state 10 of 49 — about 4.66% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 475 occupations Montana reports figures for, this is number 300.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,490 you keep $39,619, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,903 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $49,330, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, Montana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $48,490, ranking 10 of 49 and running about 4.66% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Montana's occupational distribution, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 300 of 475 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $48,490 is $39,619. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,903 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $49,330 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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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 | $37,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,860 |
| This salary | $48,490 |
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 Montana | $39,619 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,142 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,565 |
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 | $46,595 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,892 |
| 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 Montana earn under $48,490 and half over. The published range runs $37,270 at the tenth percentile to $59,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $39,619, from $48,490, 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 300 of 475 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,903 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 300.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,270 to $59,860; 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 Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,619 from $48,490. 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 300 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,903, worked from $48,490, 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 Montana address, on work sitting at 300 of 475 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,270 at the tenth percentile, $59,860 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 $43,903.
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 Montana's own levy, $39,619 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,270 to $59,860) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Montana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Montana'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 $43,903 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 $39,619 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Montana 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.