Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,654
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,366
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,558
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
$44,020
Kept after tax
$36,654
Worth in national money
$32,558
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. California is 20 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $44,020. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within California this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 441. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $44,020, tax leaves $36,654 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $32,558 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $46,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- California ranks 20 of 50 for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders at $44,020. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation California reports, packaging and filling machine operators and tenders ranks 441 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $36,654 remains from the California median of $44,020 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $32,558 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $46,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,780 |
| This salary | $44,020 |
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 | $36,654 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,550 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,084 |
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 | $42,904 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,358 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,020 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,750 and the ninetieth is $61,780 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,654 take-home in California comes from $44,020. 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 441 of 492.
- Two cautions on $32,558, the adjusted value of that $44,020 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 441 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $44,020 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,750 to $61,780. 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 $36,654, from $44,020, assumes a single California 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 441 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 50 for it.
- This $32,558 adjusted figure, worked from $44,020, 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 441 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 441 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 $46,050, 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 $35,750 at the bottom tenth to $61,780 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $32,558 of national purchasing power.
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; California then takes its own share, leaving $36,654.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $46,050. 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 ($35,750 to $61,780) 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 $32,558 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 $36,654 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.