Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,155
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$8,145
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,779
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$47,300
Kept after tax
$39,155
Worth in national money
$34,779
State rank
18
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. California pays this job around $47,300 at the midpoint, 18 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations California publishes, this job lands at 393. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $47,300 the take-home is $39,155. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,779 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $50,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders the California median is $47,300, ranking 18 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within California, this work ranks 393 of 492 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $39,155 for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders, from $47,300. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,779. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $50,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,130 |
| This salary | $47,300 |
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 California | $39,155 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,186 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,574 |
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 | $46,017 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,951 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
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, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in California earn under $47,300 and half over. The published range runs $37,260 at the tenth percentile to $71,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,155 take-home in California comes from $47,300. 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 393 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,779, the adjusted value of that $47,300 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 393 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,260 to $71,130; 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 $39,155, from $47,300, assumes a single California 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 393 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $34,779 — the adjusted value of that $47,300 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 393 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,900, 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 $37,260 and the top tenth $71,130, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $34,779 of national purchasing power.
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; California then takes its own share, leaving $39,155.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 California is $50,900. 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 ($37,260 to $71,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,779 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 $39,155 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.