Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,245
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$9,305
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,303
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — 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
$50,550
Kept after tax
$41,245
Worth in national money
$42,303
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $50,550, ranking 18 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 310.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $50,550 the take-home is $41,245, which is worth about $42,303 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $53,400, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders: a median of $50,550, ranking 18 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 310 of 492 — 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.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders on its $50,550 median: $41,245 retained after tax becomes $42,303 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $53,400 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,570 |
| This salary | $50,550 |
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 Pennsylvania | $41,245 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,797 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,738 |
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 | $48,619 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,103 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
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 mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in Pennsylvania earn under $50,550 and half over. The published range runs $38,270 at the tenth percentile to $71,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $41,245, worked from $50,550. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 310 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,303, the adjusted value of that $50,550 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 310 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,270 to $71,570; 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.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $41,245, on $50,550 for work ranking 310 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 310 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $42,303 — the adjusted value of that $50,550 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 310 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,400, 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 $38,270 at the bottom tenth to $71,570 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 Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,303 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Pennsylvania's own levy, $41,245 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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Pennsylvania is $53,400. 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 ($38,270 to $71,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Pennsylvania'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 $42,303 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 $41,245 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania 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.