Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,541
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$8,439
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,062
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$45,980
Kept after tax
$37,541
Worth in national money
$41,062
State rank
25
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Idaho pays this job around $45,980 at the midpoint, 25 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 331.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,980 you keep $37,541 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,062 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $45,270.
- For grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic the Idaho median is $45,980, ranking 25 of 48 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.
- In Idaho's occupational distribution, grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic sits at 331 of 476 — 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.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $37,541 after the full tax stack, from $45,980. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,062 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,270 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,270 |
| This salary | $45,980 |
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 Idaho | $37,541 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,125 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$800 |
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 | $44,009 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$968 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $45,980. The published range is $36,940 up to $53,270, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $37,541, from $45,980, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 331 of 476 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,062, the adjusted value of that $45,980 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Idaho. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 331 of 476 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,940 to $53,270. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,541 from $45,980. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 331 of 476 locally.
- This $41,062 adjusted figure, worked from $45,980, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 331 of 476 in the state. The occupation ranks 331 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,940 and the top tenth $53,270, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $41,062.
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 Idaho's own levy, $37,541 remains.
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 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,940 to $53,270) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $41,062 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 $37,541 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.