Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,864
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,146
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,416
Alabama costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alabama — 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
$39,010
Kept after tax
$31,864
Worth in national money
$35,416
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $39,010, ranking 45 of 49 states — about 12.04% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 354 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,010 you keep $31,864 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,416 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 45 of 49 for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $39,010 — about 12.04% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 354 of 482 in Alabama places molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $31,864 after the full tax stack, from $39,010. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,416 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,810 |
| This salary | $39,010 |
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 Alabama | $31,864 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,525 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$917 |
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 | $36,943 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,109 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Alabama earn less than $39,010. The published range is $29,010 up to $58,810, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $31,864, from $39,010, 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 354 of 482 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,416, the adjusted value of that $39,010 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. 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 354 of 482 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,010 to $58,810. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,864 from $39,010. 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 354 of 482 locally.
- This $35,416 adjusted figure, worked from $39,010, 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 354 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 354 of 482 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 $41,250, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $29,010 and the top tenth $58,810 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $35,416.
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; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $31,864.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Alabama is $41,250. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($29,010) and the ninetieth ($58,810) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Alabama'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 $35,416 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 $31,864 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Alabama 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.