Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,145
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,035
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,575
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — 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
$46,180
Kept after tax
$37,145
Worth in national money
$37,575
State rank
22
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays this job around $46,180 at the midpoint, 22 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, this job lands at 383. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $46,180, take-home of $37,145 is worth roughly $37,575 in national money. The average comes to $48,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic the Illinois median is $46,180, ranking 22 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.
- Within Illinois, this work ranks 383 of 494 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic, whose median is $46,180, the adjusted figure of $37,575 differs little from $37,145 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $48,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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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 | $37,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,400 |
| This salary | $46,180 |
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 Illinois | $37,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,853 |
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 | $43,515 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,450 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
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 grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic in Illinois earn under $46,180 and half over. The published range runs $37,530 at the tenth percentile to $63,400 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $37,145, from $46,180, 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 383 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,575 uses one figure for the whole of Illinois. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 383.
- Figures are distribution medians for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,530 to $63,400; 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.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,145 from $46,180. 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 383 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,575, worked from $46,180, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Illinois address, on work sitting at 383 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,750, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,530 at the tenth percentile, $63,400 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,575 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; Illinois then takes its own share, leaving $37,145.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Illinois is $48,750. 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 ($37,530 to $63,400) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois'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 $37,575 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 $37,145 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois 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.