Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,765
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$8,585
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,179
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — 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
$44,350
Kept after tax
$35,765
Worth in national money
$36,179
State rank
32
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Illinois. The middle earner gets $44,350. That is 32 of 45 states, and about 6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, this job lands at 400. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $44,350, tax leaves $35,765, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $36,179 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $45,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- For multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, Illinois sits in the lower band at $44,350, ranking 32 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 6%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Illinois, this work ranks 400 of 494 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.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic — median $44,350 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $35,765 retained, $36,179 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $34,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,930 |
| This salary | $44,350 |
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 Illinois | $35,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,815 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,736 |
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 | $41,798 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,308 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
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 Illinois earn under $44,350 and half over. The published range runs $34,950 at the tenth percentile to $58,930 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 Illinois's $35,765, worked from $44,350. 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 400 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,179, the adjusted value of that $44,350 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 400 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,950 to $58,930; 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 Illinois take-home of $35,765, on $44,350 for work ranking 400 of 494 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 400 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $36,179 — the adjusted value of that $44,350 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 400 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,950 at the tenth percentile, $58,930 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,179 in national terms.
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 Illinois adds its own income tax on top — which is why $35,765 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,950 to $58,930) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois'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 $36,179 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 $35,765 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois 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.