Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,362
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,188
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,314
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$37,550
Kept after tax
$31,362
Worth in national money
$33,314
State rank
41
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $37,550, 41 of 47 states and about 13.44% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 426. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,550 the take-home is $31,362; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,314 would nationally. The average comes to $38,990, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina's $37,550 median for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing places it 41 of 47 states, about 13.44% 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 North Carolina reports, woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing ranks 426 of 489, 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.
- Post-tax income for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in North Carolina, on $37,550, is $31,362 — equivalent to $33,314 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $38,990 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,120 |
| This salary | $37,550 |
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 North Carolina | $31,362 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,351 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$23 |
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 | $36,318 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$27 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in North Carolina earn under $37,550 and half over. The published range runs $30,180 at the tenth percentile to $48,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $31,362, from $37,550, 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 426 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,314 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 426.
- Figures are distribution medians for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,180 to $48,120; 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.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,362 from $37,550. 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 426 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,314, worked from $37,550, 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 North Carolina address, on work sitting at 426 of 489 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 $38,990 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,180 at the tenth percentile, $48,120 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,314 in national terms.
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; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $31,362.
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.
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 North Carolina is $38,990. 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 ($30,180 to $48,120) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina'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 $33,314 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 $31,362 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.