What Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic earn in Lake County, IL
The median pay for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Lake County, IL is $45,590 per year, which works out to $21.92 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, the labor market that Lake County, IL belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $46,980, which is 3.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,910 people working in this occupation across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Lake County, IL has roughly 714,223 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $36,090 a year ($17.35 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $62,370 or more ($29.99 an hour). That is a gap of $26,280 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $38,940 at the 25th percentile and $50,080 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.7 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $21.92 an hour or $45,590 a year at the median for Lake County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $3,799 a month, $1,753 every two weeks and $877 each week. After taxes the same job pays $17.62 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic this way: "Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary"; "Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments"; "Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products"; "Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times".
Job outlook for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 150,000 jobs in 2025 to 144,900 in 2035, a change of -3.4%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 13,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $44,350 for this occupation; the Lake County, IL median of $45,590 is 2.8% above it.
How pay in Lake County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
Pay in Lake County, IL runs $657 below the Illinois average of $46,247, a gap of 1.4%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Illinois would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Illinois, Lake County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $44,189 across the contiguous United States. At $45,590, Lake County, IL pays $1,401 more, which is 3.2% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Lake County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Lake County, IL, Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic ranks number 499 by median pay, ahead of about 19% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,760 a year, which is $128,170 more than the median for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic earning the Lake County, IL median of $45,590, they add up to $8,946. The result is $36,644 of take-home pay a year ($3,054 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $29,840. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,342, an effective 7.3% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,827 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $661. FICA totals $3,488, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $2,116 a year, or 4.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 63% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $176 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Lake County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Lake County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $147,648 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 18.4% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Lake County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Lake County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $36,644 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Lake County, IL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,780 a month ($21,360 a year), and at $2,011 for two bedrooms. For Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, a one-bedroom absorbs 58.3% of take-home pay and 46.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.5% of gross pay for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Lake County, IL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Illinois residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,677 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $434, for $2,110 in total. Gasoline in Illinois averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,471.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $28,377 a year in Lake County, IL. Subtract that from $36,644 of take-home pay and $8,268 remains, which is $689 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 18.1% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Lake County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Lake County, IL: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Lake County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Lake County, IL
Homeowners in Lake County, IL pay a median of $8,923 a year in real estate taxes, 68% above the Illinois median of $5,298 and 186% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $345,700, the median tax bill is 2.58% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic median of $45,590, a tax bill of that size would equal 19.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Lake County, IL
Renters in Lake County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,477 a month in the Census survey, 16% above the Illinois median of $1,274. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,780 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $345,700, 31% above the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $110,416, 32% above the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.3% of that income.
Commuting in Lake County, IL
Workers in Lake County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.5 minutes each way, 3% above the Illinois average of 27.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.5% of workers in Lake County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic afford to live in Lake County, IL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $45,590 that ceiling is $1,140 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,780 is $640 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $34.23 an hour; the median for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $21.92, which is 36% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $17.62 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,011 a month means $1,006 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,294 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $17,562.
How fast you can save
At $689 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 15 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 30 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Lake County, IL
How much do Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make per hour in Lake County, IL?
The median is $21.92 per hour, based on $45,590 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $17.35 at the 10th percentile to $29.99 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic take home after taxes in Lake County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $45,590 becomes $36,644 a year. That is $3,054 a month, $1,409 every two weeks or $705 a week.
How much tax do Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Lake County, IL?
Total taxes are $8,946 a year, an effective rate of 19.6%: $3,342 federal income tax, $3,488 FICA and $2,116 Illinois income tax.
Do Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic earn more in Lake County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
No. The local median of $45,590 is -1.4% versus the Illinois average of $46,247, a difference of $657 a year.
Can Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic afford a one-bedroom apartment in Lake County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,780 a month against take-home pay of $3,054, which is 58.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,140 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Lake County, IL?
About $689 a month ($8,268 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $28,377 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Lake County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$34.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $21,360 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $21.92.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Illinois rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.