Health Education Specialists in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,321
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$11,039
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,119
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
$56,360
Kept after tax
$45,321
Worth in national money
$48,119
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is among the lower-paying states for health education specialists. The middle earner takes $56,360, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 12.03% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Michigan, this sits in the middle: 266 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $56,360 you keep $45,321, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,119 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $59,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan ranks 47 of 51 for health education specialists, with a median of $56,360 — about 12.03% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Health education specialists ranks 266 of 493 occupations in Michigan by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for health education specialists on $56,360 is $45,321. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,119 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 $59,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,050 |
| This salary | $56,360 |
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 | $45,321 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,465 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$726 |
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 | $53,691 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$878 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,360 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,750 and the ninetieth is $89,050 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $45,321, from $56,360, 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 266 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $48,119, the adjusted value of that $56,360 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 266 of 493 locally.
- The Michigan median of $56,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,750 to $89,050. 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 $45,321 from $56,360. 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 266 of 493 locally.
- This $48,119 adjusted figure, worked from $56,360, 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 266 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 266 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 $59,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $37,750, the highest tenth $89,050, 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 $48,119 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, $45,321 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 $59,660. 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 ($37,750) and the ninetieth ($89,050) 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 $48,119 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 $45,321 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.