Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,235
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$5,045
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,855
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
$31,280
Kept after tax
$26,235
Worth in national money
$27,855
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Michigan. The middle earner gets $31,280. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 12.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Michigan publishes, this job lands at 479. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $31,280 you keep $26,235, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,855 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $33,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For automotive and watercraft service attendants, Michigan sits in the lower band at $31,280, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Michigan, this work ranks 479 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for automotive and watercraft service attendants on $31,280 is $26,235. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,855 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $33,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,550 |
| This salary | $31,280 |
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 | $26,235 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,313 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$253 |
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 | $29,938 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$306 |
| 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 automotive and watercraft service attendants in Michigan earn under $31,280 and half over. The published range runs $26,650 at the tenth percentile to $38,550 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $26,235, from $31,280, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 479 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $27,855, the adjusted value of that $31,280 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 479 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,650 to $38,550; 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.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,235 from $31,280. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 479 of 493 locally.
- This $27,855 adjusted figure, worked from $31,280, 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 479 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 479 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $33,240, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,650 at the tenth percentile, $38,550 at the ninetieth.
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 $27,855.
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 $26,235 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 $33,240. 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 ($26,650 to $38,550) 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 $27,855 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 $26,235 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.