Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,052
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$8,118
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,204
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — 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
$47,170
Kept after tax
$39,052
Worth in national money
$44,204
State rank
8
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Louisiana's middle earner gets $47,170, putting the state 8 of 47 — about 8.74% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 294 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,170 you keep $39,052 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,204 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,180, since top earners drag the number up.
- For woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing, Louisiana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,170, ranking 8 of 47 and running about 8.74% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 294 of 484 in Louisiana places woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $39,052 after the full tax stack, from $47,170. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,204 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,180 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,570 |
| This salary | $47,170 |
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 Louisiana | $39,052 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,081 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,958 |
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 | $45,890 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,170 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,570 and the ninetieth is $61,570 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $39,052, from $47,170, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 294 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,204, the adjusted value of that $47,170 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 294 of 484 in the state.
- The Louisiana median of $47,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,570 to $61,570. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,052 from $47,170. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 294 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $44,204 — the adjusted value of that $47,170 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 294 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,570 at the tenth percentile, $61,570 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,204.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,052 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 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 ($38,570 to $61,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana'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 $44,204 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 $39,052 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.