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

Yes — at the median salary of $60K, rent takes 29.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,202/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 $48K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,908/month. At HUD’s $1,202/month FMR, rent would take 41% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 23% above the national median — $60K here vs. $49K nationally.

Wisconsin pays $60K median vs. the U.S. average of $49K — that’s +23%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 94.33), the purchasing-power equivalent is $64K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $60,310 a year, that works out to about $29 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $48,460, and experienced forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $63,360. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,029/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,202/month, which eats 29.8% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Wisconsin has a Regional Price Parity of 94.33 (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 $63,935 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.