Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,242
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$17,158
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,962
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
$77,400
Kept after tax
$60,242
Worth in national money
$63,962
State rank
17
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays this job around $77,400 at the midpoint, 17 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 137 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,400 you keep $60,242, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,962 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $74,710, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For career/technical education teachers, secondary school the Michigan median is $77,400, ranking 17 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 137 of 493 in Michigan places career/technical education teachers, secondary school 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.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for career/technical education teachers, secondary school on $77,400 is $60,242. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,962 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 $74,710 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,040 |
| This salary | $77,400 |
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 | $60,242 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,281 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,158 |
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 | $73,081 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,600 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,400 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,370 and the ninetieth is $96,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,242 take-home in Michigan comes from $77,400. 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 137 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,962 uses one figure for the whole of Michigan. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 137.
- The Michigan median of $77,400 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,370 to $96,040. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $60,242, from $77,400, 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 137 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,962, worked from $77,400, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Michigan address, on work sitting at 137 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 $74,710, 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 — $48,370 at the tenth percentile, $96,040 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 $63,962.
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 $60,242.
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 49 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 $74,710. 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 ($48,370 to $96,040) 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 $63,962 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 $60,242 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.