Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,102
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,078
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,274
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$36,180
Kept after tax
$30,102
Worth in national money
$33,274
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,180, ranking 45 of 45 states — about 20.94% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 428. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,180 you keep $30,102, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,274 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,330, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 45 of 45 for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders, with a median of $36,180 — about 20.94% 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.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders ranks 428 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders on $36,180 is $30,102. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,274 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $39,330 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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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 | $31,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,710 |
| This salary | $36,180 |
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 Kentucky | $30,102 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,251 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,114 |
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 | $34,750 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,348 |
| 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 Kentucky earn less than $36,180. The published range is $31,110 up to $45,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,102 take-home in Kentucky comes from $36,180. 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 428 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,274, the adjusted value of that $36,180 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 428 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,110 to $45,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,102, from $36,180, assumes a single Kentucky 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 428 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $33,274 — the adjusted value of that $36,180 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 428 of 491 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 $39,330 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 — $31,110 at the tenth percentile, $45,710 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kentucky sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $33,274 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $30,102.
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 Kentucky is $39,330. 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 ($31,110 to $45,710) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kentucky rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky'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 $33,274 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 $30,102 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky 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.