Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,000
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$21,650
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,261
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
$90,650
Kept after tax
$69,000
Worth in national money
$73,261
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 24 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $90,650. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Michigan. It ranks 87 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $90,650 you keep $69,000, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $73,261 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $103,190, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan ranks 24 of 51 for detectives and criminal investigators at $90,650. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Michigan, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 87 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for detectives and criminal investigators on $90,650 is $69,000. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $73,261 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 $103,190 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $164,670 |
| This salary | $90,650 |
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 | $69,000 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,602 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,452 |
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 | $85,530 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,005 |
| 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 $90,650. The published range is $71,590 up to $164,670, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $69,000 take-home in Michigan comes from $90,650. 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 87 of 493.
- Two cautions on $73,261, the adjusted value of that $90,650 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 87 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for detectives and criminal investigators in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $71,590 to $164,670. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $69,000, from $90,650, 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 87 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- This $73,261 adjusted figure, worked from $90,650, 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 87 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 87 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 $103,190 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $71,590, the highest tenth $164,670, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $73,261 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, $69,000 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $103,190. 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 ($71,590) and the ninetieth ($164,670) 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 $73,261 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 $69,000 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.