Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,069
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,331
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,368
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$48,400
Kept after tax
$41,069
Worth in national money
$46,368
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $48,400, ranking 12 of 49 states and sitting about 4.47% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 331.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,400 the take-home is $41,069; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,368 would nationally. The average comes to $51,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota's median for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic is $48,400, about 4.47% above the national figure and 12 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 331 of 460 — 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.
- Post-tax income for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in North Dakota, on $48,400, is $41,069 — equivalent to $46,368 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 $51,620 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 | $43,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,980 |
| This salary | $48,400 |
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 Dakota | $41,069 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,069 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,105 |
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 | $48,400 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,965 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 North Dakota earn under $48,400 and half over. The published range runs $43,680 at the tenth percentile to $65,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $41,069 take-home in North Dakota comes from $48,400. 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 331 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,368, the adjusted value of that $48,400 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 331 of 460 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,680 to $65,980; 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.
- Retained pay of $41,069, from $48,400, assumes a single North Dakota 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 331 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $46,368 — the adjusted value of that $48,400 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 331 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,620, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,680 and the top tenth $65,980, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $46,368 in national terms.
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; North Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $41,069.
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 North Dakota is $51,620. 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 ($43,680 to $65,980) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $46,368 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 $41,069 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.