Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,193
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$9,077
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,173
Wisconsin costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wisconsin — 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
$49,270
Kept after tax
$40,193
Worth in national money
$43,173
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Wisconsin pays this job a middle wage of $49,270, ranking 6 of 49 states and sitting about 6.35% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 322.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,270 you keep $40,193, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,173 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wisconsin's median for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic is $49,270, about 6.35% above the national figure and 6 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 322 of 491 — 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 Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $49,270 is $40,193. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,173 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 $50,500 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 | $38,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,580 |
| This salary | $49,270 |
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 Wisconsin | $40,193 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,768 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$191 |
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 | $47,309 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$230 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Wisconsin earn less than $49,270. The published range is $38,290 up to $62,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Wisconsin the take-home figure of $40,193, from $49,270, 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 322 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $43,173, the adjusted value of that $49,270 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Wisconsin. 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 322 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Wisconsin the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,290 to $62,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Wisconsin is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,193 from $49,270. 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 322 of 491 locally.
- This $43,173 adjusted figure, worked from $49,270, 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 322 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 322 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,290 at the tenth percentile, $62,580 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wisconsin sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $43,173 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Wisconsin then takes its own share, leaving $40,193.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,290 to $62,580) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wisconsin rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Wisconsin'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 $43,173 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 $40,193 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Wisconsin 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.