Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $62K, rent takes 29.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,199/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $43K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,559/month.

Local pay is 33% above the national median — $62K here vs. $47K nationally.

West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area pays $62K median vs. the U.S. average of $47K — that’s +33%.

The median is $61,900 a year, that works out to about $30 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $42,650, and experienced grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $73,540. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,108/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,199/month, which eats 29.2% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $61,900 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.