Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $45K, rent takes 30.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $973/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,000/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders typically earn — is $33K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,985/month. At HUD’s $973/month FMR, rent would take 49% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 13% below the national median — $45K here vs. $52K nationally. Cost of living is 10% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

El Paso pays $45K median vs. the U.S. average of $52K — that’s -13%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.91), the purchasing-power equivalent is $50K — below the national median.

The median is $45,060 a year, that works out to about $22 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $33,090, and experienced separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders can clear $56,190. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,187/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $973/month, which eats 30.5% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

El Paso has a Regional Price Parity of 89.91 (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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders salary is worth about $50,117 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.