Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,201
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,299
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,212
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — 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
$42,500
Kept after tax
$35,201
Worth in national money
$39,212
State rank
36
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $42,500, ranking 36 of 49 states — about 4.17% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 473 occupations West Virginia reports figures for, this is number 318.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $42,500 you keep $35,201 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,212 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $47,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia ranks 36 of 49 for molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $42,500 — about 4.17% 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.
- In West Virginia's occupational distribution, molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 318 of 473 — 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 West Virginia is $35,201 after the full tax stack, from $42,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,212 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $47,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $33,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,230 |
| This salary | $42,500 |
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 West Virginia | $35,201 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,329 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,827 |
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 | $41,097 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,209 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,500 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,790 and the ninetieth is $62,230 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,201 take-home in West Virginia comes from $42,500. 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 318 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,212 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 318.
- The West Virginia median of $42,500 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,790 to $62,230. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,201, from $42,500, assumes a single West Virginia 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 318 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,212, worked from $42,500, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 318 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $47,060 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,790 at the tenth percentile, $62,230 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $39,212.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $35,201 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.
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 West Virginia is $47,060. 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 ($33,790 to $62,230) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $39,212 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 $35,201 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia 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.