Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,123
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$8,277
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,355
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — 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
$46,400
Kept after tax
$38,123
Worth in national money
$41,355
State rank
24
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Indiana pays this job around $46,400 at the midpoint, 24 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 354 among 493 occupations Indiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,400 you keep $38,123 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,355 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic the Indiana median is $46,400, ranking 24 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 354 of 493 in Indiana places molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic 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.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $38,123 after the full tax stack, from $46,400. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,355 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,990 |
| This salary | $46,400 |
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 Indiana | $38,123 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,462 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$746 |
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 | $44,733 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$902 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Indiana earn under $46,400 and half over. The published range runs $36,070 at the tenth percentile to $63,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,123 take-home in Indiana comes from $46,400. 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 354 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,355 uses one figure for the whole of Indiana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 354.
- Figures are distribution medians for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Indiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,070 to $63,990; 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 $38,123, from $46,400, assumes a single Indiana 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 354 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,355, worked from $46,400, 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 Indiana address, on work sitting at 354 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,120, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,070 at the tenth percentile, $63,990 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Indiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,355 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 Indiana's own levy, $38,123 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.
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 Indiana is $48,120. 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 ($36,070 to $63,990) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Indiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Indiana'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 $41,355 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 $38,123 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana 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.