Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,215
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,525
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,014
South Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Carolina — 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
$45,740
Kept after tax
$38,215
Worth in national money
$41,014
State rank
28
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 28 of 45 states for this job, with a middle wage of $45,740. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 332.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,740 you keep $38,215 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,014 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $49,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina ranks 28 of 45 for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic at $45,740. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic sits at 332 of 492 — 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.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $38,215 after the full tax stack, from $45,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,014 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $49,330 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 | $35,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,770 |
| This salary | $45,740 |
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 South Carolina | $38,215 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,932 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$950 |
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 | $44,848 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,149 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 South Carolina earn under $45,740 and half over. The published range runs $35,320 at the tenth percentile to $66,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,215 take-home in South Carolina comes from $45,740. 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 332 of 492.
- Two cautions on $41,014, the adjusted value of that $45,740 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. 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 332 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,320 to $66,770; 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.
- Retained pay of $38,215, from $45,740, assumes a single South Carolina 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 332 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 45 for it.
- This $41,014 adjusted figure, worked from $45,740, 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 332 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 332 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,330, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,320 at the bottom tenth to $66,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $41,014 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; South Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $38,215.
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.
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 South Carolina is $49,330. 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 ($35,320 to $66,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South Carolina'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 $41,014 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 $38,215 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and South Carolina 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.