Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,303
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$25,907
25.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,076
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
$103,210
Kept after tax
$77,303
Worth in national money
$82,076
State rank
23
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 23 of 47 states for atmospheric and space scientists, with a middle wage of $103,210. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Michigan this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 57 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $103,210 you keep $77,303 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $82,076 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $106,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 23 of 47 for atmospheric and space scientists at $103,210. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Michigan publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 57 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $77,303 after the full tax stack, from $103,210. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $82,076 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $106,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $151,110 |
| This salary | $103,210 |
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 | $77,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,438 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,730 |
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 | $97,331 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,389 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Michigan earn less than $103,210. The published range is $49,580 up to $151,110, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $77,303 take-home in Michigan comes from $103,210. 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 57 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,076, the adjusted value of that $103,210 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 57 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for atmospheric and space scientists in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,580 to $151,110. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $77,303, from $103,210, 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 57 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 47 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $82,076 — the adjusted value of that $103,210 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 57 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $106,510 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,580 and the top tenth $151,110 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Michigan sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $82,076 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Michigan then takes its own share, leaving $77,303.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $106,510. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,580) and the ninetieth ($151,110) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $82,076 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 $77,303 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.