Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,784
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$8,026
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,450
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$46,810
Kept after tax
$38,784
Worth in national money
$34,450
State rank
21
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,810, ranking 21 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in California, this one sits low: 404 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,810 the take-home is $38,784. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,450 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $49,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California occupies the middle band for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic: a median of $46,810, ranking 21 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic occupies position 404 of 492 in California'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 California income tax is $38,784 for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, from $46,810. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,450. ⚠️ 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 $49,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,440 |
| This salary | $46,810 |
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 California | $38,784 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,792 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,499 |
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 | $45,555 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,860 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
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 California earn under $46,810 and half over. The published range runs $38,280 at the tenth percentile to $65,440 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 California's $38,784, worked from $46,810. 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 404 of 492.
- Two cautions on $34,450, the adjusted value of that $46,810 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. 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 404 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,280 to $65,440; 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 California take-home of $38,784, on $46,810 for work ranking 404 of 492 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 404 of 492 in the state.
- This $34,450 adjusted figure, worked from $46,810, 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 404 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 404 of 492 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 $49,660 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,280 and the top tenth $65,440, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $34,450 of national purchasing power.
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 California's own levy, $38,784 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 California is $49,660. 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 ($38,280 to $65,440) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,450 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,784 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.