Forest and Conservation Technicians in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,254
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$8,506
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,555
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
$45,760
Kept after tax
$37,254
Worth in national money
$39,555
State rank
42
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Michigan pays this job a middle wage of $45,760, 42 of 45 states and about 16.13% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 356 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,760 you keep $37,254, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,555 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,570, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan's $45,760 median for forest and conservation technicians places it 42 of 45 states, about 16.13% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 356 of 493 in Michigan places forest and conservation technicians 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 forest and conservation technicians on $45,760 is $37,254. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,555 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 $50,570 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,630 |
| This salary | $45,760 |
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 | $37,254 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,948 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$526 |
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 | $43,652 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$636 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,760 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,360 and the ninetieth is $73,630 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $37,254, worked from $45,760. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 356 of 493.
- Two cautions on $39,555, the adjusted value of that $45,760 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 356 of 493 locally.
- The Michigan median of $45,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,360 to $73,630. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Michigan take-home of $37,254, on $45,760 for work ranking 356 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 356 of 493 in the state.
- This $39,555 adjusted figure, worked from $45,760, 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 356 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 356 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 $50,570, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,360 and the top tenth $73,630 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $39,555.
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, $37,254 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $50,570. 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 ($35,360) and the ninetieth ($73,630) 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 $39,555 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 $37,254 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.