Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,819
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$8,501
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,703
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$44,320
Kept after tax
$35,819
Worth in national money
$37,703
State rank
34
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,320, ranking 34 of 48 states — about 4.79% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Utah, this one sits low: 368 of 487 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,320 you keep $35,819 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,703 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,490, since top earners drag the number up.
- Utah ranks 34 of 48 for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic, with a median of $44,320 — about 4.79% 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 occupies position 368 of 487 in Utah's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Utah is $35,819 after the full tax stack, from $44,320. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,703 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,490 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,250 |
| This salary | $44,320 |
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 Utah | $35,819 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,791 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,186 |
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 | $41,865 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,435 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $44,320. The published range is $34,950 up to $56,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $35,819 take-home in Utah comes from $44,320. 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 368 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,703, the adjusted value of that $44,320 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 368 of 487 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,950 to $56,250. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $35,819, from $44,320, assumes a single Utah 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 368 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $37,703 — the adjusted value of that $44,320 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 368 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,950 at the tenth percentile, $56,250 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,703 in national terms.
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 Utah's own levy, $35,819 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,950 to $56,250) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $37,703 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 $35,819 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.