Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,462
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$6,188
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,745
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — 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
$38,650
Kept after tax
$32,462
Worth in national money
$36,745
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,650, ranking 47 of 49 states — about 12.85% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 361 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,650 you keep $32,462, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,745 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Louisiana ranks 47 of 49 for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $38,650 — about 12.85% 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 361 of 484 in Louisiana 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.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $38,650 is $32,462. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,745 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 $40,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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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 | $30,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,020 |
| This salary | $38,650 |
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 Louisiana | $32,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,235 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,543 |
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 | $37,688 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,076 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 Louisiana earn under $38,650 and half over. The published range runs $30,260 at the tenth percentile to $49,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,462 take-home in Louisiana comes from $38,650. 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 361 of 484.
- Two cautions on $36,745, the adjusted value of that $38,650 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Louisiana. 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 361 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,260 to $49,020; 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 $32,462, from $38,650, assumes a single Louisiana 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 361 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 49 for it.
- This $36,745 adjusted figure, worked from $38,650, 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 361 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 361 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $40,620, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,260 and the top tenth $49,020, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Louisiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $36,745 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,462 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Louisiana is $40,620. 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 ($30,260 to $49,020) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana'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 $36,745 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 $32,462 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana 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.