Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,603
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$9,067
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,581
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$46,670
Kept after tax
$37,603
Worth in national money
$39,581
State rank
25
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Utah is 25 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,670. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 487 occupations Utah reports figures for, this is number 342.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,670 you keep $37,603 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,581 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,760, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah ranks 25 of 49 for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $46,670. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Utah's occupational distribution, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 342 of 487 — 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.
- Retained pay in Utah is $37,603 after the full tax stack, from $46,670. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,581 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,760 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $37,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,430 |
| This salary | $46,670 |
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 Utah | $37,603 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,679 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,252 |
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 | $44,085 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,514 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $46,670. The published range is $37,420 up to $62,430, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $37,603, from $46,670, 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 342 of 487 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $39,581, the adjusted value of that $46,670 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 342 of 487 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,420 to $62,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,603 from $46,670. 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 342 of 487 locally.
- This $39,581 adjusted figure, worked from $46,670, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 342 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 342 of 487 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 $48,760, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,420 at the tenth percentile, $62,430 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $39,581 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; Utah then takes its own share, leaving $37,603.
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 Utah is $48,760. 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 ($37,420 to $62,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $39,581 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 $37,603 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.