Insurance Underwriters in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,229
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$17,151
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,948
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
$77,380
Kept after tax
$60,229
Worth in national money
$63,948
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for insurance underwriters is on the low side in Michigan. The middle earner gets $77,380. That is 34 of 49 states, and about 4.9% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Michigan reports figures for, this is number 139.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,380 you keep $60,229 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,948 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $81,620, since top earners drag the number up.
- For insurance underwriters, Michigan sits in the lower band at $77,380, ranking 34 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 4.9%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Michigan's occupational distribution, insurance underwriters sits at 139 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.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $60,229 after the full tax stack, from $77,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,948 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $81,620 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Insurance Underwriters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,440 |
| This salary | $77,380 |
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 | $60,229 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,267 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,158 |
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 | $73,062 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,599 |
| 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 $77,380. The published range is $50,960 up to $123,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $60,229, from $77,380, 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 139 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,948, the adjusted value of that $77,380 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 139 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for insurance underwriters in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,960 to $123,440. 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 $60,229 from $77,380. 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 139 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $63,948 — the adjusted value of that $77,380 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 139 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 $81,620, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,960 at the bottom tenth to $123,440 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $63,948.
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 $60,229 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $81,620. 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 ($50,960) and the ninetieth ($123,440) 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 $63,948 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 $60,229 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.