Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,029
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,831
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,186
Tennessee costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Tennessee — 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
$45,860
Kept after tax
$39,029
Worth in national money
$42,186
State rank
31
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays this job around $45,860 at the midpoint, 31 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 337.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,860 the take-home is $39,029; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,186 would nationally. The average lands at $45,070, below the middle of the range.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic the Tennessee median is $45,860, ranking 31 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.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic sits at 337 of 491 — 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.
- Post-tax income for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Tennessee, on $45,860, is $39,029 — equivalent to $42,186 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 $45,070 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,720 |
| This salary | $45,860 |
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 Tennessee | $39,029 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,029 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,023 |
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 | $45,860 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,447 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Tennessee earn less than $45,860. The published range is $33,330 up to $56,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $39,029, worked from $45,860. 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 337 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,186, the adjusted value of that $45,860 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 337 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,330 to $56,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $39,029, on $45,860 for work ranking 337 of 491 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 337 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $42,186 — the adjusted value of that $45,860 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 337 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,330 at the tenth percentile, $56,720 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,186 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $39,029 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,330 to $56,720) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Tennessee rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Tennessee'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 $42,186 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,029 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.