Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,722
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$12,108
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,731
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
$60,830
Kept after tax
$48,722
Worth in national money
$51,731
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,830, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Michigan, this sits in the middle: 226 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,830 the take-home is $48,722; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,731 would nationally. The average comes to $62,940, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Michigan occupies the middle band for mental health and substance abuse social workers: a median of $60,830, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Mental health and substance abuse social workers ranks 226 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.
- Post-tax income for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Michigan, on $60,830, is $48,722 — equivalent to $51,731 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 $62,940 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,750 |
| This salary | $60,830 |
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 | $48,722 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,057 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$810 |
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 | $57,925 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$980 |
| 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers in Michigan earn under $60,830 and half over. The published range runs $42,150 at the tenth percentile to $82,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,722 take-home in Michigan comes from $60,830. 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 226 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,731, the adjusted value of that $60,830 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 226 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,150 to $82,750; 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 $48,722, from $60,830, 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 226 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $51,731 — the adjusted value of that $60,830 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 226 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 $62,940 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,150 at the tenth percentile, $82,750 at the ninetieth.
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 $51,731.
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 $48,722 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $62,940. 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 ($42,150 to $82,750) 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 $51,731 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 $48,722 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.