Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,189
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,871
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,485
South Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South 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
$46,060
Kept after tax
$39,189
Worth in national money
$44,485
State rank
29
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 29 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,060. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 314.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,060 you keep $39,189, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,485 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,740, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 29 of 49 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $46,060. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 314 of 457 — 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 South Dakota income tax, retained pay for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $46,060 is $39,189. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,485 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 $47,740 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 | $36,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,950 |
| This salary | $46,060 |
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 South Dakota | $39,189 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,189 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,157 |
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 | $46,060 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,027 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 South Dakota earn under $46,060 and half over. The published range runs $36,840 at the tenth percentile to $59,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $39,189, from $46,060, 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 314 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,485 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 314.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,840 to $59,950; 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 South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,189 from $46,060. 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 314 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,485, worked from $46,060, 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 South Dakota address, on work sitting at 314 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $47,740, 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 — $36,840 at the tenth percentile, $59,950 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 $44,485.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $39,189 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 South Dakota is $47,740. 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 ($36,840 to $59,950) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South 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 $44,485 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
South Dakota levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,189 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.