Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,292
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,728
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,085
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — 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
$40,020
Kept after tax
$33,292
Worth in national money
$37,085
State rank
32
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $40,020, 32 of 47 states and about 7.75% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 330 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $40,020 the take-home is $33,292; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $37,085 would nationally. The average lands at $39,820, below the middle of the range.
- West Virginia's $40,020 median for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing places it 32 of 47 states, about 7.75% 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.
- Position 330 of 473 in West Virginia 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.
- Post-tax income for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in West Virginia, on $40,020, is $33,292 — equivalent to $37,085 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 $39,820 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,120 |
| This salary | $40,020 |
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 West Virginia | $33,292 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,336 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,751 |
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 | $38,721 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,118 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 West Virginia earn under $40,020 and half over. The published range runs $29,860 at the tenth percentile to $49,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,292 take-home in West Virginia comes from $40,020. 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 330 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,085 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 330.
- Figures are distribution medians for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,860 to $49,120; 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.
- Retained pay of $33,292, from $40,020, assumes a single West Virginia 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 330 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,085, worked from $40,020, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 330 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,860 at the bottom tenth to $49,120 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $37,085 in national terms.
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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $33,292 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,860 to $49,120) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $37,085 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 $33,292 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia 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.