Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,534
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$10,426
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,227
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$54,960
Kept after tax
$44,534
Worth in national money
$49,227
State rank
2
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $54,960, which ranks 2 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 16.49% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 248.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,960 the take-home is $44,534; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $49,227 would nationally. The average comes to $57,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 2 of 45 states publishing a median for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at $54,960 — about 16.49% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 248 of 491 — 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.
- Post-tax income for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Kentucky, on $54,960, is $44,534 — equivalent to $49,227 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $57,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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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 | $38,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,330 |
| This salary | $54,960 |
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 Kentucky | $44,534 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,340 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,539 |
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 | $52,712 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,861 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $54,960. The published range is $38,790 up to $80,330, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $44,534, worked from $54,960. 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 248 of 491.
- Two cautions on $49,227, the adjusted value of that $54,960 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. 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 248 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,790 to $80,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kentucky take-home of $44,534, on $54,960 for work ranking 248 of 491 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 248 of 491 in the state.
- This $49,227 adjusted figure, worked from $54,960, 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 248 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 248 of 491 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 $57,820, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $38,790, the highest tenth $80,330, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kentucky is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $49,227 in national terms.
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 Kentucky's own levy, $44,534 remains.
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 Kentucky is $57,820. 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 ($38,790) and the ninetieth ($80,330) 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?
Kentucky'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 $49,227 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 $44,534 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky 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.