Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,879
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$7,791
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,908
New Mexico costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Mexico — 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
$45,670
Kept after tax
$37,879
Worth in national money
$41,908
State rank
37
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $45,670, ranking 37 of 46 states — about 4.3% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 330.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,670 the take-home is $37,879; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,908 would nationally. The average comes to $48,050, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico ranks 37 of 46 for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $45,670 — about 4.3% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 330 of 485 — 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 New Mexico, on $45,670, is $37,879 — equivalent to $41,908 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 $48,050 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 | $40,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,710 |
| This salary | $45,670 |
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 New Mexico | $37,879 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,876 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,902 |
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 | $44,430 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,301 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Mexico earn less than $45,670. The published range is $40,160 up to $56,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $37,879 take-home in New Mexico comes from $45,670. 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 330 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,908 uses one figure for the whole of New Mexico. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 330.
- Reported values are medians; for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,160 to $56,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $37,879, from $45,670, assumes a single New Mexico 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 330 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,908, worked from $45,670, 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 New Mexico address, on work sitting at 330 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,050, 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 $40,160 and the top tenth $56,710, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in New Mexico sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $41,908 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 New Mexico's own levy, $37,879 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 New Mexico is $48,050. 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 ($40,160 to $56,710) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Mexico rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
New Mexico'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 $41,908 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 $37,879 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Mexico 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.