Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,457
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$9,233
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,744
Alabama costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alabama — 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
$47,690
Kept after tax
$38,457
Worth in national money
$42,744
State rank
24
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alabama is 24 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $47,690. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 274 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,690 the take-home is $38,457; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,744 would nationally. The average lands at $47,540, below the middle of the range.
- Alabama ranks 24 of 46 for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $47,690. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 274 of 482 in Alabama places extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama, on $47,690, is $38,457 — equivalent to $42,744 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 $47,540 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,680 |
| This salary | $47,690 |
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 Alabama | $38,457 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,499 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,067 |
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 | $45,148 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,291 |
| 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 extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama earn under $47,690 and half over. The published range runs $31,540 at the tenth percentile to $66,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $38,457, from $47,690, 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 274 of 482 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,744, the adjusted value of that $47,690 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 274 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,540 to $66,680; 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.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,457 from $47,690. 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 274 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $42,744 — the adjusted value of that $47,690 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 274 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,540 at the bottom tenth to $66,680 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,744.
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; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $38,457.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,540) and the ninetieth ($66,680) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Alabama'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 $42,744 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 $38,457 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Alabama 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.