Cost Estimators in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,632
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$17,358
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,376
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
$77,990
Kept after tax
$60,632
Worth in national money
$64,376
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays cost estimators around $77,990 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cost estimators ranks 133 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,990 you keep $60,632, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $64,376 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $82,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cost estimators the Michigan median is $77,990, ranking 25 of 51 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 133 of 493 in Michigan places cost estimators 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 cost estimators on $77,990 is $60,632. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $64,376 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 $82,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,520 |
| This salary | $77,990 |
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 | $60,632 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,696 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,171 |
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 | $73,635 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,618 |
| 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 cost estimators in Michigan earn under $77,990 and half over. The published range runs $46,660 at the tenth percentile to $125,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,632 take-home in Michigan comes from $77,990. 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 133 of 493.
- Two cautions on $64,376, the adjusted value of that $77,990 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 133 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cost estimators in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,660 to $125,520; 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 $60,632, from $77,990, 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 133 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- This $64,376 adjusted figure, worked from $77,990, 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 133 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 133 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $82,600, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,660 at the bottom tenth to $125,520 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Michigan is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $64,376 in national terms.
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 $60,632 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 $82,600. 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 ($46,660) and the ninetieth ($125,520) 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 $64,376 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 $60,632 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.