Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,503
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$5,757
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,263
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
$34,260
Kept after tax
$28,503
Worth in national money
$30,263
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays food servers, nonrestaurant around $34,260 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Michigan publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 470. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,260 the take-home is $28,503; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,263 would nationally. The average lands at $33,930, below the middle of the range.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant the Michigan median is $34,260, 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.
- Within Michigan, this work ranks 470 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for food servers, nonrestaurant in Michigan, on $34,260, is $28,503 — equivalent to $30,263 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $33,930 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,180 |
| This salary | $34,260 |
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 | $28,503 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,708 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$309 |
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 | $32,760 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$374 |
| 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 $34,260. The published range is $28,730 up to $38,180, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $28,503, from $34,260, 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 470 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,263 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 470.
- Reported values are medians; for food servers, nonrestaurant in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,730 to $38,180. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $28,503 from $34,260. 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 470 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,263, worked from $34,260, 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 470 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,730 at the tenth percentile, $38,180 at the ninetieth.
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 $30,263 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $28,503 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,730 to $38,180) 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 $30,263 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 $28,503 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.