Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,816
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,594
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,543
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — 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
$45,410
Kept after tax
$36,816
Worth in national money
$36,543
State rank
33
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $45,410, 33 of 48 states and about 1.65% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 369. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $45,410, take-home of $36,816 is worth roughly $36,543 in national money. The average lands at $45,310, below the middle of the range.
- Virginia's $45,410 median for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic places it 33 of 48 states, about 1.65% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic ranks 369 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, whose median is $45,410, the adjusted figure of $36,543 differs little from $36,816 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $45,310 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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 | $36,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,180 |
| This salary | $45,410 |
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 Virginia | $36,816 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,667 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,248 |
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 | $43,107 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,928 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 Virginia earn under $45,410 and half over. The published range runs $36,720 at the tenth percentile to $57,180 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,816 take-home in Virginia comes from $45,410. 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 369 of 489.
- Two cautions on $36,543, the adjusted value of that $45,410 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Virginia. 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 369 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,720 to $57,180; 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 $36,816, from $45,410, assumes a single Virginia 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 369 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 48 for it.
- This $36,543 adjusted figure, worked from $45,410, 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 369 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 369 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,720 at the bottom tenth to $57,180 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $36,543 rather than its face figure.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $36,816.
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 ($36,720 to $57,180) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,543 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 $36,816 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia 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.