Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,506
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$10,784
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,255
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
$55,290
Kept after tax
$44,506
Worth in national money
$47,255
State rank
28
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 28 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $55,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 271 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $55,290 you keep $44,506 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $47,255 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $58,780, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 28 of 46 for camera operators, television, video, and film at $55,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 271 of 493 in Michigan places camera operators, television, video, and film 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.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $44,506 after the full tax stack, from $55,290. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $47,255 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,780 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,030 |
| This salary | $55,290 |
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 | $44,506 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,606 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$706 |
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 | $52,678 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$853 |
| 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 camera operators, television, video, and film in Michigan earn under $55,290 and half over. The published range runs $38,280 at the tenth percentile to $81,030 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $44,506, from $55,290, 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 271 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,255, the adjusted value of that $55,290 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 271 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for camera operators, television, video, and film in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,280 to $81,030; 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 $44,506 from $55,290. 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 271 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $47,255 — the adjusted value of that $55,290 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 271 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 $58,780, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $38,280 and the top tenth $81,030 — 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 $47,255 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Michigan's own levy, $44,506 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $58,780. 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 ($38,280) and the ninetieth ($81,030) 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 $47,255 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 $44,506 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.