Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $55K, rent takes 29.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,097/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $35K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,104/month. At HUD’s $1,097/month FMR, rent would take 52% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 13% above the national median — $55K here vs. $49K nationally.

Missouri pays $55K median vs. the U.S. average of $49K — that’s +13%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $62K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $55,210 a year, that works out to about $27 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $35,070, and experienced forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $66,160. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,714/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,097/month, which eats 29.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Missouri has a Regional Price Parity of 88.97 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $62,055 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.