Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,502
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$8,298
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,460
Alabama costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alabama — 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
$43,800
Kept after tax
$35,502
Worth in national money
$39,460
State rank
34
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $43,800, ranking 34 of 45 states — about 7.16% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 321 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $43,800 you keep $35,502, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,460 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama ranks 34 of 45 for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, with a median of $43,800 — about 7.16% 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 321 of 482 in Alabama places multiple machine tool 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 Alabama income tax, retained pay for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $43,800 is $35,502. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,460 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 $46,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,880 |
| This salary | $43,800 |
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 Alabama | $35,502 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,373 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,000 |
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 | $41,471 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,210 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama earn under $43,800 and half over. The published range runs $31,020 at the tenth percentile to $70,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $35,502, worked from $43,800. 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 321 of 482.
- Two cautions on $39,460, the adjusted value of that $43,800 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. 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 321 of 482 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,020 to $70,880; 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.
- The Alabama take-home of $35,502, on $43,800 for work ranking 321 of 482 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 321 of 482 in the state.
- This $39,460 adjusted figure, worked from $43,800, 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 321 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 321 of 482 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 $46,100, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,020 and the top tenth $70,880 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $39,460.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $35,502.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 Alabama is $46,100. 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 ($31,020) and the ninetieth ($70,880) 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?
Alabama'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 $39,460 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 $35,502 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Alabama 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.