Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,476
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$5,474
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,450
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$38,950
Kept after tax
$33,476
Worth in national money
$34,450
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Texas pays this job a middle wage of $38,950, 39 of 50 states and about 9.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Texas this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 394. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $38,950, take-home of $33,476 is worth roughly $34,450 in national money. The average comes to $41,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Texas's $38,950 median for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders places it 39 of 50 states, about 9.88% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Texas reports, packaging and filling machine operators and tenders ranks 394 of 493, 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.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, whose median is $38,950, the adjusted figure of $34,450 differs little from $33,476 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $41,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,190 |
| This salary | $38,950 |
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 Texas | $33,476 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $33,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,090 |
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 | $38,950 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,691 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Texas earn less than $38,950. The published range is $28,990 up to $57,190, 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 Texas's $33,476, worked from $38,950. 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 394 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Texas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,450, the adjusted value of that $38,950 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 394 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Texas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,990 to $57,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Texas take-home of $33,476, on $38,950 for work ranking 394 of 493 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 394 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Texas, so $34,450 — the adjusted value of that $38,950 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 394 of 493 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 $41,480, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $28,990 and the top tenth $57,190 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Texas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $34,450 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $33,476 of this wage reaches your account, because Texas takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 Texas is $41,480. 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 ($28,990) and the ninetieth ($57,190) 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?
Texas'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 $34,450 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $33,476 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.