Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,079
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$9,071
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,485
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$50,150
Kept after tax
$41,079
Worth in national money
$47,485
State rank
13
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Arkansas's middle earner gets $50,150, putting the state 13 of 46 — about 5.09% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 222.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,150 the take-home is $41,079; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,485 would nationally. The average comes to $51,460, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, Arkansas sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,150, ranking 13 of 46 and running about 5.09% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Arkansas's occupational distribution, extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 222 of 489 — 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.
- Post-tax income for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Arkansas, on $50,150, is $41,079 — equivalent to $47,485 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 $51,460 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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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 | $39,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,760 |
| This salary | $50,150 |
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 Arkansas | $41,079 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,775 |
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 | $48,411 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,565 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 Arkansas earn under $50,150 and half over. The published range runs $39,110 at the tenth percentile to $61,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $41,079 take-home in Arkansas comes from $50,150. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 222 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,485 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. 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 222.
- Figures are distribution medians for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,110 to $61,760; 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.
- Retained pay of $41,079, from $50,150, assumes a single Arkansas filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 222 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,485, worked from $50,150, 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 Arkansas address, on work sitting at 222 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,110 at the tenth percentile, $61,760 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $47,485 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; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $41,079.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 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 ($39,110 to $61,760) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas'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 $47,485 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 $41,079 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.