Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,558
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$8,112
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,202
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — 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
$43,670
Kept after tax
$35,558
Worth in national money
$34,202
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Maryland pays this job around $43,670 at the midpoint, 23 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 489 occupations Maryland publishes, this job lands at 406. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $43,670 the take-home is $35,558. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,202 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $48,480, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For packaging and filling machine operators and tenders the Maryland median is $43,670, ranking 23 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Maryland, this work ranks 406 of 489 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $35,558 for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, from $43,670. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,202. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $48,480 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $35,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,620 |
| This salary | $43,670 |
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 Maryland | $35,558 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,269 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,150 |
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 | $41,541 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,019 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,670 as a midpoint for Maryland, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,270 and the ninetieth is $69,620 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $35,558, from $43,670, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 406 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maryland, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,202, the adjusted value of that $43,670 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 406 of 489 in the state.
- The Maryland median of $43,670 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,270 to $69,620. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $35,558 from $43,670. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 406 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maryland, so $34,202 — the adjusted value of that $43,670 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 406 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,480, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,270 and the top tenth $69,620 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Maryland costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $34,202 rather than its face figure.
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 Maryland's own levy, $35,558 remains.
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 50 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 Maryland is $48,480. 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 ($35,270) and the ninetieth ($69,620) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,202 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 $35,558 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland 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.