Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,425
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$8,245
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,674
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
$44,670
Kept after tax
$36,425
Worth in national money
$38,674
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,670, ranking 48 of 50 states — about 7.42% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Michigan, this one sits low: 372 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,670 you keep $36,425 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,674 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,910, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 48 of 50 for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders, with a median of $44,670 — about 7.42% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders occupies position 372 of 493 in Michigan's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $36,425 after the full tax stack, from $44,670. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,674 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,910 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,800 |
| This salary | $44,670 |
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 | $36,425 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,072 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$505 |
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 | $42,619 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$611 |
| 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 coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders in Michigan earn under $44,670 and half over. The published range runs $35,630 at the tenth percentile to $67,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,425 take-home in Michigan comes from $44,670. 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 372 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,674 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 372.
- Figures are distribution medians for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,630 to $67,800; 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.
- Retained pay of $36,425, from $44,670, 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 372 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,674, worked from $44,670, 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 372 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 $48,910 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,630 at the bottom tenth to $67,800 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $38,674.
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 $36,425 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $48,910. 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 ($35,630) and the ninetieth ($67,800) 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 $38,674 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 $36,425 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.