Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,589
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$9,961
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,500
Massachusetts costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Massachusetts — 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
$40,589
Worth in national money
$37,500
State rank
7
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays this job a middle wage of $50,550, ranking 7 of 48 states and sitting about 9.49% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Massachusetts, this sits in the middle: 350 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $50,550 the take-home is $40,589. But Massachusetts costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,500 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $53,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Massachusetts's median for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic is $50,550, about 9.49% above the national figure and 7 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic ranks 350 of 485 occupations in Massachusetts by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Massachusetts income tax is $40,589 for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, from $50,550. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,500. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $53,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,520 |
| 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 Massachusetts | $40,589 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,797 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,541 |
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 | $47,803 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,911 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Massachusetts earn less than $50,550. The published range is $37,630 up to $72,520, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Massachusetts the take-home figure of $40,589, from $50,550, 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 350 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,500, the adjusted value of that $50,550 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Massachusetts. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 350 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Massachusetts the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,630 to $72,520. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Massachusetts is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,589 from $50,550. 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 350 of 485 locally.
- This $37,500 adjusted figure, worked from $50,550, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 350 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 350 of 485 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 $53,630, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,630 and the top tenth $72,520, so most people doing this work in Massachusetts sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,500 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 Massachusetts adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,589 of this wage survives to your account.
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 48 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 Massachusetts is $53,630. 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 ($37,630 to $72,520) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Massachusetts rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Massachusetts's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,500 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 $40,589 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Massachusetts 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.