Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,708
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$7,392
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,789
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
$41,100
Kept after tax
$33,708
Worth in national money
$35,789
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $41,100, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 10.52% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Michigan, this one sits low: 400 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $41,100 the take-home is $33,708; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,789 would nationally. The average comes to $43,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Michigan ranks 41 of 51 for medical secretaries and administrative assistants, with a median of $41,100 — about 10.52% 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.
- Medical secretaries and administrative assistants occupies position 400 of 493 in Michigan's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Michigan, on $41,100, is $33,708 — equivalent to $35,789 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 $43,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,840 |
| This salary | $41,100 |
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 | $33,708 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,204 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$438 |
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 | $39,238 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$530 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Michigan earn under $41,100 and half over. The published range runs $36,330 at the tenth percentile to $50,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,708 take-home in Michigan comes from $41,100. 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 400 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,789 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 400.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,330 to $50,840; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $33,708, from $41,100, 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 400 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,789, worked from $41,100, 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 400 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 $43,260, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,330 and the top tenth $50,840, so most people doing this work in Michigan sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,789 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 $33,708 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 $43,260. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,330 to $50,840) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Michigan rather than a national figure.
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 $35,789 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 $33,708 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.