Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,761
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,789
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,890
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$46,550
Kept after tax
$37,761
Worth in national money
$38,890
State rank
29
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 29 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,550. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against 484 occupations Maine publishes, this job lands at 378. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $46,550, take-home of $37,761 is worth roughly $38,890 in national money. The average comes to $52,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 29 of 46 for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $46,550. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Maine, this work ranks 378 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, whose median is $46,550, the adjusted figure of $38,890 differs little from $37,761 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $52,170 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 | $36,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,490 |
| This salary | $46,550 |
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 Maine | $37,761 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,583 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,844 |
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 | $44,282 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,230 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $46,550. The published range is $36,910 up to $65,490, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $37,761 take-home in Maine comes from $46,550. 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 378 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,890, the adjusted value of that $46,550 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 378 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,910 to $65,490. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $37,761, from $46,550, assumes a single Maine 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 378 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $38,890 — the adjusted value of that $46,550 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 378 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $52,170, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,910 and the top tenth $65,490, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $38,890 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,761 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 46 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 Maine is $52,170. 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 ($36,910 to $65,490) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $38,890 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 $37,761 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.