Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,638
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$9,002
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,985
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$50,640
Kept after tax
$41,638
Worth in national money
$36,985
State rank
17
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. California is 17 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $50,640. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 362 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $50,640 the take-home is $41,638; in national-average money that behaves like $36,985. The average comes to $56,440, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California ranks 17 of 49 for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders at $50,640. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 362 of 492 in California places mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in California, on $50,640, is $41,638; deflated by the state's price level, $36,985. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $56,440 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,340 |
| This salary | $50,640 |
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 California | $41,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,869 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,130 |
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 | $49,108 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,623 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,640 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,220 and the ninetieth is $79,340 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In California the take-home figure of $41,638, from $50,640, 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 362 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,985 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 362.
- The California median of $50,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,220 to $79,340. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,638 from $50,640. 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 362 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,985, worked from $50,640, 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 California address, on work sitting at 362 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $56,440, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,220 at the bottom tenth to $79,340 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $36,985 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $41,638 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 California is $56,440. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,220) and the ninetieth ($79,340) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,985 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $41,638 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.