Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,616
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$10,504
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,309
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
$54,120
Kept after tax
$43,616
Worth in national money
$46,309
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 18 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $54,120. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 276 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,120 the take-home is $43,616; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,309 would nationally. The average comes to $56,490, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Michigan ranks 18 of 51 for automotive service technicians and mechanics at $54,120. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 276 of 493 in Michigan places automotive service technicians and mechanics in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Michigan, on $54,120, is $43,616 — equivalent to $46,309 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $56,490 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,060 |
| This salary | $54,120 |
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 | $43,616 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,665 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$684 |
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 | $51,569 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$827 |
| 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 $54,120. The published range is $36,110 up to $79,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $43,616, worked from $54,120. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 276 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,309, the adjusted value of that $54,120 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 276 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,110 to $79,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Michigan take-home of $43,616, on $54,120 for work ranking 276 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 276 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $46,309 — the adjusted value of that $54,120 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 276 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 $56,490 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 $36,110 and the top tenth $79,060 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $46,309.
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 $43,616 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $56,490. 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 ($36,110) and the ninetieth ($79,060) 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 $46,309 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 $43,616 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.