What Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators earn in Knox County, IN
The median pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN is $46,270 per year, which works out to $22.25 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Southern Indiana nonmetropolitan area, the labor market that Knox County, IN 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 $50,740, which is 9.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,020 people working in this occupation across the Southern Indiana nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Knox County, IN has roughly 36,007 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in the Southern Indiana nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $35,300 a year ($16.97 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $77,900 or more ($37.45 an hour). That is a gap of $42,600 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,230 at the 25th percentile and $60,660 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.2 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN is $22.25. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $46,270, and the same salary is $3,856 a month before taxes or about $1,780 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $18.24 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Team Assemblers this way: "Work as part of a team having responsibility for assembling an entire product or component of a product. Team assemblers can perform all tasks conducted by the team in the assembly process and rotate through all or most of them, rather than being assigned to a specific task on a permanent basis. May participate in making management decisions affecting the work. Includes team leaders who work as part of the team."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Rotate through all the tasks required in a particular production process"; "Determine work assignments and procedures"; "Perform quality checks on products and parts"; "Shovel, sweep, or otherwise clean work areas".
This BLS pay category covers several related O*NET occupations, among them Team Assemblers, Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other, so the wage figures describe the group as a whole.
Job outlook for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,403,500 jobs in 2025 to 1,418,400 in 2035, a change of +1.1%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 138,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.9% 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 $44,650 for this occupation; the Knox County, IN median of $46,270 is 3.6% above it.
How pay in Knox County, IN compares
Compared with the Indiana average
Knox County, IN pays above the state benchmark. The Indiana employment-weighted average for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $45,678; the local median of $46,270 beats it by $592, or 1.3%. Within Indiana, the highest median we track for this job is $48,440 in Clark County, IN.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $44,643 across the contiguous United States. At $46,270, Knox County, IN pays $1,627 more, which is 3.6% 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 Knox County, IN
Among the 372 occupations with published wages in Knox County, IN, Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators ranks number 232 by median pay, ahead of about 38% of them.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $46,270 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $8,322 a year, which leaves $37,948, or $3,162 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $30,520. 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 $3,424, an effective 7.4% 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 $2,869 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $671. FICA totals $3,540, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Indiana
Indiana income tax on this salary is $1,358 a year, or 2.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 40% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $113 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 Knox County, IN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Knox County, IN show an average adjusted gross income of $66,445 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.6% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.7%, compared with the 7.4% 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 Knox County, IN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Knox County, IN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $37,948 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Knox County, IN is $775 a month, or $9,300 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,014 a month. For Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators, a one-bedroom absorbs 24.5% of take-home pay and 20.1% 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 7.4% of gross pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Indiana residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,560 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $366, for $1,927 in total. Gasoline in Indiana averages $3.07 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,421.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $16,084 a year, 42% of take-home pay. That leaves $21,865 a year, or $1,822 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 47.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Knox County, IN
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Knox County, IN: 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 Knox County, IN, set beside the Indiana and national medians.
Property taxes in Knox County, IN
Homeowners in Knox County, IN pay a median of $933 a year in real estate taxes, 42% below the Indiana median of $1,614 and 70% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $137,700, the median tax bill is 0.68% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators median of $46,270, a tax bill of that size would equal 2.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Knox County, IN
Renters in Knox County, IN pay a median gross rent of $796 a month in the Census survey, 25% below the Indiana median of $1,062. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $775 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 $137,700, 37% below the Indiana median of $218,200. Median household income is $61,237, 15% below the Indiana median of $71,957, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 15.2% of that income.
Commuting in Knox County, IN
Workers in Knox County, IN who travel to a workplace spend an average of 19.7 minutes each way, 18% below the Indiana average of 24.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 2.3% of workers in Knox County, IN work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators afford to live in Knox County, IN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $46,270 that ceiling is $1,157 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $775 is $382 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $14.90 an hour; the median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $22.25, which is 49% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.24 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 9.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,014 a month means $507 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,216 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $25,081.
How fast you can save
At $1,822 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 6 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 12 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators pay in Knox County, IN
What is the hourly wage for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN?
The median is $22.25 per hour, based on $46,270 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.97 at the 10th percentile to $37.45 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $46,270 becomes $37,948 a year. That is $3,162 a month, $1,460 every two weeks or $730 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN?
Total taxes are $8,322 a year, an effective rate of 18.0%: $3,424 federal income tax, $3,540 FICA and $1,358 Indiana income tax.
Is pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN above the Indiana average?
Yes. The local median of $46,270 is +1.3% versus the Indiana average of $45,678, a difference of $592 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators salary in Knox County, IN?
A one-bedroom costs $775 a month against take-home pay of $3,162, which is 24.5% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,157 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Knox County, IN?
About $1,822 a month ($21,865 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,084 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Knox County, IN at the 30% guideline?
$14.90 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,300 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $22.25.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Southern Indiana nonmetropolitan 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 Indiana 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.