Print Binding and Finishing Workers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,700
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,690
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,487
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
$45,390
Kept after tax
$37,700
Worth in national money
$33,487
State rank
15
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays print binding and finishing workers a middle wage of $45,390, ranking 15 of 50 states and sitting about 7.33% above the national middle.
- Within California this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, print binding and finishing workers ranks 426. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $45,390 the take-home is $37,700. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $33,487 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $46,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- California's median for print binding and finishing workers is $45,390, about 7.33% above the national figure and 15 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation California reports, print binding and finishing workers ranks 426 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $37,700 for print binding and finishing workers, from $45,390. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,487. ⚠️ 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 $46,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Print Binding and Finishing Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,290 |
| This salary | $45,390 |
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 | $37,700 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,651 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,288 |
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 | $44,206 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,605 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,390 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,900 and the ninetieth is $59,290 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,700 take-home in California comes from $45,390. 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 426 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,487 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 426.
- The California median of $45,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,900 to $59,290. 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 $37,700, from $45,390, 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 426 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,487, worked from $45,390, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 426 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,900 and the top tenth $59,290, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,487 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 $37,700.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,900 to $59,290) 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 $33,487 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 $37,700 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.