Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,970
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,820
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,736
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$44,790
Kept after tax
$36,970
Worth in national money
$42,736
State rank
25
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Arkansas pays this job around $44,790 at the midpoint, 25 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Arkansas reports figures for, this is number 292.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,790 you keep $36,970 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,736 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $44,410.
- For molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic the Arkansas median is $44,790, ranking 25 of 49 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 Arkansas's occupational distribution, molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 292 of 489 — 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.
- Retained pay in Arkansas is $36,970 after the full tax stack, from $44,790. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,736 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,410 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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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 | $31,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,940 |
| This salary | $44,790 |
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 Arkansas | $36,970 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,169 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,458 |
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 | $43,298 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,182 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $44,790. The published range is $31,110 up to $58,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,970 take-home in Arkansas comes from $44,790. 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 292 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,736, the adjusted value of that $44,790 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 292 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,110 to $58,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,970, from $44,790, assumes a single Arkansas 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 292 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $42,736 — the adjusted value of that $44,790 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 292 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,110 at the tenth percentile, $58,940 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $42,736 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Arkansas then takes its own share, leaving $36,970.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 ($31,110 to $58,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas'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 $42,736 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 $36,970 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas 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.