Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,026
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$8,434
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,312
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
$45,460
Kept after tax
$37,026
Worth in national money
$39,312
State rank
28
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 28 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $45,460. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Michigan reports figures for, this is number 360.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,460 you keep $37,026, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,312 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,830, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan ranks 28 of 48 for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic at $45,460. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Michigan's occupational distribution, grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic sits at 360 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for grinding, lapping, polishing, & buffing machine tool setters, operators, & tenders, metal & plastic on $45,460 is $37,026. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,312 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 $46,830 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,090 |
| This salary | $45,460 |
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 | $37,026 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,707 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$520 |
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 | $43,368 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$629 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,460 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,850 and the ninetieth is $60,090 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $37,026, from $45,460, 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 360 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 $39,312 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 360.
- The Michigan median of $45,460 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,850 to $60,090. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,026 from $45,460. 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 360 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,312, worked from $45,460, 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 360 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 $46,830 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,850 and the top tenth $60,090, so most people doing this work in Michigan sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,312 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, $37,026 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $46,830. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,850 to $60,090) 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 $39,312 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 $37,026 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.