Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,151
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$8,289
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,000
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$43,440
Kept after tax
$35,151
Worth in national money
$37,000
State rank
39
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Utah. The middle earner gets $43,440. That is 39 of 48 states, and about 5.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Measured against other jobs in Utah, this one sits low: 383 of 487 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $43,440 you keep $35,151 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,000 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, Utah sits in the lower band at $43,440, ranking 39 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 5.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic occupies position 383 of 487 in Utah's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Utah is $35,151 after the full tax stack, from $43,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,000 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $35,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,790 |
| This salary | $43,440 |
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 Utah | $35,151 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,084 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,162 |
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 | $41,034 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,405 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,440 as a midpoint for Utah, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,300 and the ninetieth is $57,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,151 take-home in Utah comes from $43,440. 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 383 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,000, the adjusted value of that $43,440 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 383 of 487 in the state.
- The Utah median of $43,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,300 to $57,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,151, from $43,440, assumes a single Utah 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 383 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $37,000 — the adjusted value of that $43,440 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 383 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,300 at the bottom tenth to $57,790 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. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,000 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 Utah's own levy, $35,151 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,300 to $57,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $37,000 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 $35,151 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.