Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,941
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$5,679
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,611
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$35,620
Kept after tax
$29,941
Worth in national money
$34,611
State rank
48
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Arkansas. The middle earner gets $35,620. That is 48 of 48 states, and about 22.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations Arkansas publishes, this job lands at 414. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Arkansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,620 the take-home is $29,941; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,611 would nationally. The average comes to $37,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, Arkansas sits in the lower band at $35,620, ranking 48 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 22.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Arkansas, this work ranks 414 of 489 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.
- Post-tax income for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Arkansas, on $35,620, is $29,941 — equivalent to $34,611 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $37,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,570 |
| This salary | $35,620 |
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 Arkansas | $29,941 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,801 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,915 |
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 | $34,550 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,525 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Arkansas earn under $35,620 and half over. The published range runs $29,820 at the tenth percentile to $45,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,941 take-home in Arkansas comes from $35,620. 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 414 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,611 uses one figure for the whole of Arkansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 414.
- Figures are distribution medians for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Arkansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,820 to $45,570; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,941, from $35,620, assumes a single Arkansas 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 414 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,611, worked from $35,620, 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 Arkansas address, on work sitting at 414 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,280, 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 $29,820 at the bottom tenth to $45,570 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Arkansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $34,611 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; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $29,941.
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.
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 Arkansas is $37,280. 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 ($29,820 to $45,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas'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 $34,611 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 $29,941 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.