Printing Press Operators in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,563
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$6,197
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,618
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$36,760
Kept after tax
$30,563
Worth in national money
$34,618
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays printing press operators a middle wage of $36,760, 50 of 51 states and about 19.7% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Oklahoma this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, printing press operators ranks 409. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,760 you keep $30,563, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,618 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma's $36,760 median for printing press operators places it 50 of 51 states, about 19.7% 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 Oklahoma reports, printing press operators ranks 409 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 federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for printing press operators on $36,760 is $30,563. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,618 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $38,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Printing Press Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,440 |
| This salary | $36,760 |
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 Oklahoma | $30,563 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,717 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,979 |
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 | $35,324 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,394 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,760 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,700 and the ninetieth is $50,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oklahoma's $30,563, worked from $36,760. 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 409 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,618 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. 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 409.
- The Oklahoma median of $36,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,700 to $50,440. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Oklahoma take-home of $30,563, on $36,760 for work ranking 409 of 492 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 409 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,618, worked from $36,760, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 409 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 $38,200, 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 $26,700 at the bottom tenth to $50,440 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 Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,618 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Oklahoma's own levy, $30,563 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Oklahoma is $38,200. 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 ($26,700 to $50,440) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $34,618 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 $30,563 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.