Mechanical Engineers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,413
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$26,477
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,255
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
$104,890
Kept after tax
$78,413
Worth in national money
$83,255
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is one of the better-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $104,890, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 0.75% above the national middle.
- Within Michigan this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 51 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $104,890 you keep $78,413, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $83,255 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $112,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for mechanical engineers, at $104,890 — about 0.75% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Michigan publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 51 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for mechanical engineers on $104,890 is $78,413. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $83,255 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 $112,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,840 |
| This salary | $104,890 |
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 | $78,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,767 |
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 | $98,910 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,441 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $104,890 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,310 and the ninetieth is $159,840 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $78,413 take-home in Michigan comes from $104,890. 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 51 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $83,255, the adjusted value of that $104,890 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 51 of 493 in the state.
- The Michigan median of $104,890 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,310 to $159,840. 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 $78,413, from $104,890, 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 51 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $83,255 — the adjusted value of that $104,890 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 51 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 $112,320 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $76,310 at the bottom tenth to $159,840 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $83,255 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $78,413 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $112,320. 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 ($76,310) and the ninetieth ($159,840) 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 $83,255 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 $78,413 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.