Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,635
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,435
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,695
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West 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
$43,070
Kept after tax
$35,635
Worth in national money
$39,695
State rank
41
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $43,070. That is 41 of 49 states, and about 7.04% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 312 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $43,070 the take-home is $35,635; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $39,695 would nationally. The average comes to $45,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $43,070, ranking 41 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 7.04%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ranks 312 of 473 occupations in West 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.
- Post-tax income for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in West Virginia, on $43,070, is $35,635 — equivalent to $39,695 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 $45,130 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 | $30,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,570 |
| This salary | $43,070 |
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 West Virginia | $35,635 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,787 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,839 |
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 | $41,637 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,224 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 West Virginia earn under $43,070 and half over. The published range runs $30,700 at the tenth percentile to $57,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $35,635, worked from $43,070. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 312 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,695, the adjusted value of that $43,070 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 312 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,700 to $57,570; 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.
- The West Virginia take-home of $35,635, on $43,070 for work ranking 312 of 473 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 312 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $39,695 — the adjusted value of that $43,070 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 312 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $45,130, 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 — $30,700 at the tenth percentile, $57,570 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $39,695 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and West Virginia's own levy, $35,635 remains.
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 West Virginia is $45,130. 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 ($30,700 to $57,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $39,695 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 $35,635 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West 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.