Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Wisconsin
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,258
after federal, FICA and Wisconsin tax
Tax takes
$8,772
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,169
Wisconsin costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wisconsin — 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
$48,030
Kept after tax
$39,258
Worth in national money
$42,169
State rank
14
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Wisconsin's middle earner gets $48,030, putting the state 14 of 48 — about 4.03% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Wisconsin reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Here is where Wisconsin does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,030 you keep $39,258, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,169 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,720, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, Wisconsin sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $48,030, ranking 14 of 48 and running about 4.03% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Wisconsin's occupational distribution, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic sits at 348 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wisconsin income tax, retained pay for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic on $48,030 is $39,258. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,169 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $50,720 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 | $38,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,660 |
| This salary | $48,030 |
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 Wisconsin | $39,258 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,772 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$211 |
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 | $46,145 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$256 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 Wisconsin earn under $48,030 and half over. The published range runs $38,820 at the tenth percentile to $71,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,258 take-home in Wisconsin comes from $48,030. 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 348 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Wisconsin, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,169, the adjusted value of that $48,030 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 348 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in Wisconsin, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,820 to $71,660; 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 $39,258, from $48,030, assumes a single Wisconsin 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 348 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Wisconsin, so $42,169 — the adjusted value of that $48,030 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 348 of 491 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 $50,720, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $38,820 at the bottom tenth to $71,660 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Wisconsin sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,169 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Wisconsin's own levy, $39,258 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 Wisconsin is $50,720. 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 ($38,820 to $71,660) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wisconsin rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Wisconsin'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 $42,169 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 $39,258 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Wisconsin 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.