Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Vermont

Machined metal parts and a CNC machine in a clean manufacturing workshop.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$36,724

after federal, FICA and Vermont tax

Tax takes

$7,806

17.5% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$38,003

Vermont costs less than average

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

$44,530

Kept after tax

$36,724

Worth in national money

$38,003

State rank

26

of 49 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Neither high nor low. Vermont is 26 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $44,530. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
  • Within Vermont this is lower-paid work. Of 453 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 394. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
  • Vermont is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,530 the take-home is $36,724; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,003 would nationally. The average comes to $47,250, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Vermont ranks 26 of 49 for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $44,530. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
  • Against every occupation Vermont reports, molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ranks 394 of 453, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
  • Post-tax income for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Vermont, on $44,530, is $36,724 — equivalent to $38,003 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $47,250 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$37,900
Half earn under$44,530
Top tenth earn over$70,890
This salary$44,530

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

Compare with
+$1,235take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Vermont$36,724
Take-home in Texas$37,960
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$1,060

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

Moving to
$0now · $44,530$43,248
$43,248in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$42,992
You could take a cut of−$1,282
Prices in Texas97 vs 97

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Half the people doing this work in Vermont earn less than $44,530. The published range is $37,900 up to $70,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Vermont's $36,724, worked from $44,530. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 394 of 453.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,003 uses one figure for the whole of Vermont. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 453 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 394.
  • Reported values are medians; for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Vermont the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,900 to $70,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • The Vermont take-home of $36,724, on $44,530 for work ranking 394 of 453 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 394 of 453 in the state.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,003, worked from $44,530, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Vermont address, on work sitting at 394 of 453 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $47,250, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,900 and the top tenth $70,890 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

More than the figure suggests. Prices in Vermont sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $38,003 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 Vermont adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,724 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 Vermont is $47,250. 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 ($37,900) and the ninetieth ($70,890) 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?

Vermont'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 $38,003 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 $36,724 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Vermont 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.