Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,929
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$5,891
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,715
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
$34,820
Kept after tax
$28,929
Worth in national money
$30,715
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays this job around $34,820 at the midpoint, 27 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Michigan publishes, this job lands at 464. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,820 you keep $28,929, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $30,715 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists the Michigan median is $34,820, ranking 27 of 50 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 464 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.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists on $34,820 is $28,929. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $30,715 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 $47,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,370 |
| This salary | $34,820 |
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 | $28,929 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,158 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$319 |
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 | $33,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$386 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,820 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,960 and the ninetieth is $95,370 — 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 $28,929, worked from $34,820. 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 464 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,715 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 464.
- The Michigan median of $34,820 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,960 to $95,370. 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 $28,929, on $34,820 for work ranking 464 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 464 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,715, worked from $34,820, 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 464 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 $47,290, 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 $25,960 and the top tenth $95,370 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $30,715 in national terms.
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, $28,929 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $47,290. 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 ($25,960) and the ninetieth ($95,370) 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 $30,715 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 $28,929 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.