Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,562
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,778
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,694
Iowa costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Iowa — 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
$49,340
Kept after tax
$40,562
Worth in national money
$45,694
State rank
9
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $49,340, ranking 9 of 45 states and sitting about 7.82% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 303 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $49,340 the take-home is $40,562; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,694 would nationally. The average comes to $50,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa's median for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders is $49,340, about 7.82% above the national figure and 9 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 303 of 493 in Iowa places extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in Iowa, on $49,340, is $40,562 — equivalent to $45,694 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 $50,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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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 | $40,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,100 |
| This salary | $49,340 |
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 Iowa | $40,562 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,825 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,654 |
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 | $47,768 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,210 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Iowa earn less than $49,340. The published range is $40,290 up to $62,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,562 take-home in Iowa comes from $49,340. 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 303 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,694, the adjusted value of that $49,340 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 303 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,290 to $62,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,562, from $49,340, assumes a single Iowa 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 303 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $45,694 — the adjusted value of that $49,340 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 303 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,910, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,290 at the bottom tenth to $62,100 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Iowa is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,694 in national terms.
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; Iowa then takes its own share, leaving $40,562.
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 Iowa is $50,910. 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 ($40,290 to $62,100) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Iowa rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Iowa'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 $45,694 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 $40,562 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Iowa 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.