Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,506
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$6,214
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,567
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$42,720
Kept after tax
$36,506
Worth in national money
$37,567
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Texas pays this job a middle wage of $42,720, 42 of 49 states and about 7.79% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Texas this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 370. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $42,720, take-home of $36,506 is worth roughly $37,567 in national money. The average comes to $43,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Texas's $42,720 median for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic places it 42 of 49 states, about 7.79% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Texas reports, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ranks 370 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, whose median is $42,720, the adjusted figure of $37,567 differs little from $36,506 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,580 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 | $34,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,370 |
| This salary | $42,720 |
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 Texas | $36,506 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $36,506 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,279 |
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 | $42,720 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,935 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Texas earn less than $42,720. The published range is $34,340 up to $57,370, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $36,506, from $42,720, 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 370 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,567 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 370.
- Reported values are medians; for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Texas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,340 to $57,370. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,506 from $42,720. 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 370 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,567, worked from $42,720, 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 Texas address, on work sitting at 370 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,340 and the top tenth $57,370, so most people doing this work in Texas sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Texas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,567 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $36,506 survives, because Texas 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?
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,340 to $57,370) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Texas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Texas'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 $37,567 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?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $36,506 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.