Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,326
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$9,584
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,484
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
$52,910
Kept after tax
$43,326
Worth in national money
$38,484
State rank
19
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. California pays this job around $52,910 at the midpoint, 19 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 351 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $52,910, tax leaves $43,326 — and because California is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $38,484 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $59,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- For separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders the California median is $52,910, ranking 19 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.
- Position 351 of 492 in California places separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After tax, $43,326 remains from the California median of $52,910 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $38,484 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $59,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,630 |
| This salary | $52,910 |
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 | $43,326 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,693 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,508 |
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 | $51,209 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,080 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in California earn under $52,910 and half over. The published range runs $34,320 at the tenth percentile to $83,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $43,326, worked from $52,910. 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 351 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,484, the adjusted value of that $52,910 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 351 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,320 to $83,630; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The California take-home of $43,326, on $52,910 for work ranking 351 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 351 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $38,484 — the adjusted value of that $52,910 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 351 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $59,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $34,320 and the top tenth $83,630 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $38,484 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $43,326.
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 California is $59,240. 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 ($34,320) and the ninetieth ($83,630) 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?
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 $38,484 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 $43,326 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.