Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,226
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,074
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,942
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — 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
$47,300
Kept after tax
$38,226
Worth in national money
$37,942
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,300, ranking 20 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 346 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $47,300 the take-home is $38,226, which is worth about $37,942 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,270, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic: a median of $47,300, ranking 20 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ranks 346 of 489 occupations in Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on its $47,300 median: $38,226 retained after tax becomes $37,942 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,270 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 | $36,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,680 |
| This salary | $47,300 |
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 Virginia | $38,226 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,186 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,412 |
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 | $44,862 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,126 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $47,300. The published range is $36,550 up to $60,680, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $38,226, from $47,300, 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 346 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,942 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. 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 346.
- Reported values are medians; for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,550 to $60,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,226 from $47,300. 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 346 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,942, worked from $47,300, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 346 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,550 and the top tenth $60,680, so most people doing this work in Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $37,942 rather than its face figure.
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 Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,226 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,550 to $60,680) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,942 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,226 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia 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.