Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,675
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,545
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,402
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — 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
$45,220
Kept after tax
$36,675
Worth in national money
$36,402
State rank
38
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $45,220, ranking 38 of 46 states — about 5.24% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 374 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $45,220 the take-home is $36,675, which is worth about $36,402 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $47,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia ranks 38 of 46 for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $45,220 — about 5.24% 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.
- Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 374 of 489 in Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on its $45,220 median: $36,675 retained after tax becomes $36,402 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $47,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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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 | $38,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,930 |
| This salary | $45,220 |
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 Virginia | $36,675 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,232 |
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 | $42,931 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,909 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,220 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,320 and the ninetieth is $58,930 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $36,675, worked from $45,220. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 374 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,402, the adjusted value of that $45,220 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 374 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $45,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,320 to $58,930. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Virginia take-home of $36,675, on $45,220 for work ranking 374 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 374 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $36,402 — the adjusted value of that $45,220 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 374 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $47,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,320 at the tenth percentile, $58,930 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $36,402 rather than its face figure.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $36,675.
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.
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 Virginia is $47,240. 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 ($38,320 to $58,930) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,402 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $36,675 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia 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.