Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,156
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,214
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,237
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$44,370
Kept after tax
$36,156
Worth in national money
$37,237
State rank
22
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $44,370, ranking 22 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 406 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $44,370 the take-home is $36,156, which is worth about $37,237 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $44,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing: a median of $44,370, ranking 22 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing occupies position 406 of 484 in Maine's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing on its $44,370 median: $36,156 retained after tax becomes $37,237 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,880 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,680 |
| This salary | $44,370 |
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 Maine | $36,156 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,831 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,694 |
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 | $42,285 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,048 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $44,370. The published range is $37,400 up to $55,680, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,156 take-home in Maine comes from $44,370. 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 406 of 484.
- Two cautions on $37,237, the adjusted value of that $44,370 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 406 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,400 to $55,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,156, from $44,370, assumes a single Maine 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 406 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 47 for it.
- This $37,237 adjusted figure, worked from $44,370, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 406 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 406 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,400 at the tenth percentile, $55,680 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 $37,237.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $36,156.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 ($37,400 to $55,680) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $37,237 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 $36,156 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.