Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,026
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$6,784
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,119
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$38,810
Kept after tax
$32,026
Worth in national money
$33,119
State rank
43
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Georgia. The middle earner gets $38,810. That is 43 of 45 states, and about 17.74% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Georgia publishes, this job lands at 412. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,810 you keep $32,026, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,119 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, Georgia sits in the lower band at $38,810, ranking 43 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 17.74%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Georgia, this work ranks 412 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic on $38,810 is $32,026. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,119 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 $42,380 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 | $33,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,650 |
| This salary | $38,810 |
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 Georgia | $32,026 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,364 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,214 |
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 | $37,145 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,469 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,810 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,890 and the ninetieth is $58,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $32,026 take-home in Georgia comes from $38,810. 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 412 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,119 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 412.
- The Georgia median of $38,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,890 to $58,650. 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 $32,026, from $38,810, assumes a single Georgia 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 412 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,119, worked from $38,810, 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 Georgia address, on work sitting at 412 of 492 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 $42,380, 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 $33,890 at the bottom tenth to $58,650 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $33,119.
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 Georgia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,026 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Georgia is $42,380. 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 ($33,890 to $58,650) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Georgia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia'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 $33,119 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 $32,026 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.