Sewing Machine Operators in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,969
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$5,371
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,680
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
$33,340
Kept after tax
$27,969
Worth in national money
$31,680
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays sewing machine operators a middle wage of $33,340, 44 of 50 states and about 9.08% 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, sewing machine operators ranks 443. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $33,340 you keep $27,969 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $31,680 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $33,220.
- Oklahoma's $33,340 median for sewing machine operators places it 44 of 50 states, about 9.08% 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, sewing machine operators ranks 443 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 in Oklahoma is $27,969 after the full tax stack, from $33,340. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,680 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,220 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,350 |
| This salary | $33,340 |
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 | $27,969 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,969 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,869 |
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 | $32,096 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,260 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 sewing machine operators in Oklahoma earn under $33,340 and half over. The published range runs $23,850 at the tenth percentile to $44,350 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 Oklahoma's $27,969, worked from $33,340. 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 443 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,680 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 443.
- Figures are distribution medians for sewing machine operators in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,850 to $44,350; 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 Oklahoma take-home of $27,969, on $33,340 for work ranking 443 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 443 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,680, worked from $33,340, 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 443 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $23,850 and the top tenth $44,350, so most people doing this work in Oklahoma sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $31,680 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, $27,969 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,850 to $44,350) 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 $31,680 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 $27,969 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.
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.