Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,462
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$6,188
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,745
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — 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
$38,650
Kept after tax
$32,462
Worth in national money
$36,745
State rank
45
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,650, ranking 45 of 48 states — about 16.97% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Louisiana, this sits in the middle: 360 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,650 you keep $32,462 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,745 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,150, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 45 of 48 for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic, with a median of $38,650 — about 16.97% 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.
- Grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic ranks 360 of 484 occupations in Louisiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $32,462 after the full tax stack, from $38,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,745 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,150 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $30,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,500 |
| This salary | $38,650 |
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 Louisiana | $32,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,235 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,543 |
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 | $37,688 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,076 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Louisiana earn less than $38,650. The published range is $30,790 up to $55,500, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $32,462, from $38,650, 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 360 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,745, the adjusted value of that $38,650 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 360 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,790 to $55,500. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,462 from $38,650. 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 360 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $36,745 — the adjusted value of that $38,650 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 360 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,150, 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 $30,790 at the bottom tenth to $55,500 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Louisiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $36,745 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; Louisiana then takes its own share, leaving $32,462.
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 Louisiana is $41,150. 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 ($30,790 to $55,500) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana'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 $36,745 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 $32,462 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana 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.