Animal Caretakers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,504
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$4,816
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,079
Michigan costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Michigan — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$30,320
Kept after tax
$25,504
Worth in national money
$27,079
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is among the lower-paying states for animal caretakers. The middle earner takes $30,320, ranking 37 of 51 states — about 14.25% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Michigan, this one sits low: 486 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,320 you keep $25,504 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,079 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,850, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 37 of 51 for animal caretakers, with a median of $30,320 — about 14.25% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Animal caretakers occupies position 486 of 493 in Michigan's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $25,504 after the full tax stack, from $30,320. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,079 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,850 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,480 |
| This salary | $30,320 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Michigan | $25,504 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,542 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$235 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $29,028 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$284 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of animal caretakers in Michigan earn under $30,320 and half over. The published range runs $27,770 at the tenth percentile to $45,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $25,504 take-home in Michigan comes from $30,320. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 486 of 493.
- Two cautions on $27,079, the adjusted value of that $30,320 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Michigan. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 486 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for animal caretakers in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,770 to $45,480; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $25,504, from $30,320, assumes a single Michigan filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 486 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 51 for it.
- This $27,079 adjusted figure, worked from $30,320, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 486 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 486 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $33,850, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,770 at the bottom tenth to $45,480 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $27,079.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Michigan adds its own income tax on top — which is why $25,504 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Michigan is $33,850. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,770 to $45,480) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Michigan rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Michigan's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $27,079 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $25,504 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Michigan income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.