Mechanical Drafters in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,858
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$15,422
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,369
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
$72,280
Kept after tax
$56,858
Worth in national money
$60,369
State rank
17
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 17 of 47 states for mechanical drafters, with a middle wage of $72,280. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Mechanical drafters ranks 160 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $72,280 the take-home is $56,858; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $60,369 would nationally. The average comes to $75,920, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Michigan ranks 17 of 47 for mechanical drafters at $72,280. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 160 of 493 in Michigan places mechanical drafters 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.
- Post-tax income for mechanical drafters in Michigan, on $72,280, is $56,858 — equivalent to $60,369 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $75,920 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $112,170 |
| This salary | $72,280 |
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 | $56,858 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,679 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,045 |
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 | $68,270 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,444 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $72,280 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,100 and the ninetieth is $112,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $56,858 take-home in Michigan comes from $72,280. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 160 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,369, the adjusted value of that $72,280 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 160 of 493 in the state.
- The Michigan median of $72,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,100 to $112,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $56,858, from $72,280, assumes a single Michigan filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 160 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 47 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $60,369 — the adjusted value of that $72,280 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 160 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 $75,920 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,100 and the top tenth $112,170 — 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 $60,369.
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, $56,858 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $75,920. 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 ($47,100) and the ninetieth ($112,170) 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 $60,369 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 $56,858 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.