Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,829
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,571
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,060
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$43,400
Kept after tax
$35,829
Worth in national money
$38,060
State rank
40
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $43,400. That is 40 of 49 states, and about 6.32% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, this job lands at 376. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $43,400 the take-home is $35,829; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,060 would nationally. The average comes to $45,980, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $43,400, ranking 40 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 6.32%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 376 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in North Carolina, on $43,400, is $35,829 — equivalent to $38,060 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $45,980 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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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 | $35,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,120 |
| This salary | $43,400 |
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 North Carolina | $35,829 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,052 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$69 |
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 | $41,878 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$84 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,400 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,180 and the ninetieth is $62,120 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,829 take-home in North Carolina comes from $43,400. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 376 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,060 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 376.
- The North Carolina median of $43,400 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,180 to $62,120. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,829, from $43,400, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 376 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,060, worked from $43,400, 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 North Carolina address, on work sitting at 376 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $45,980, 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 $35,180 at the bottom tenth to $62,120 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $38,060 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $35,829 of this wage survives to your account.
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 North Carolina is $45,980. 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 ($35,180 to $62,120) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina'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 $38,060 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 $35,829 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.