Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,571
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$8,649
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,847
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Delaware — 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
$45,220
Kept after tax
$36,571
Worth in national money
$36,847
State rank
22
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Delaware pays this job around $45,220 at the midpoint, 22 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Delaware, this one sits low: 334 of 445 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $45,220, tax leaves $36,571, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $36,847 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $45,200.
- For molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic the Delaware median is $45,220, ranking 22 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.
- Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 334 of 445 in Delaware'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.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic — median $45,220 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $36,571 retained, $36,847 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,200 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 | $36,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,330 |
| This salary | $45,220 |
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 Delaware | $36,571 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,787 |
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 | $42,802 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,371 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
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 molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Delaware earn under $45,220 and half over. The published range runs $36,310 at the tenth percentile to $58,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $36,571, from $45,220, 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 334 of 445 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,847, the adjusted value of that $45,220 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Delaware. 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 334 of 445 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Delaware, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,310 to $58,330; 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.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,571 from $45,220. 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 334 of 445 locally.
- This $36,847 adjusted figure, worked from $45,220, 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 334 of 445 in the state. The occupation ranks 334 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,310 and the top tenth $58,330, so most people doing this work in Delaware sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Delaware is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,847 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 Delaware's own levy, $36,571 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,310 to $58,330) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Delaware rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Delaware'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 $36,847 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 $36,571 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Delaware 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.