Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,981
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$7,309
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,749
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$48,290
Kept after tax
$40,981
Worth in national money
$37,749
State rank
7
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,290, which ranks 7 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 8.88% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Washington, this one sits low: 409 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $48,290 the take-home is $40,981. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,749 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $52,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 7 of 49 states publishing a median for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at $48,290 — about 8.88% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 409 of 493 in Washington'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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $40,981 for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, from $48,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,749. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $52,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,000 |
| This salary | $48,290 |
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 Washington | $40,981 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,981 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,423 |
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 | $48,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,350 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,290 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,880 and the ninetieth is $70,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $40,981, worked from $48,290. 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 409 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,749 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 409.
- The Washington median of $48,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,880 to $70,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Washington take-home of $40,981, on $48,290 for work ranking 409 of 493 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 409 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,749, worked from $48,290, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 409 of 493 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 $52,690, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,880 at the bottom tenth to $70,000 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $37,749 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $40,981 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 Washington is $52,690. 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 ($38,880 to $70,000) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,749 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $40,981 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.