Occupational Therapy Assistants in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,572
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$12,688
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,694
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
$63,260
Kept after tax
$50,572
Worth in national money
$53,694
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Michigan pays this job a middle wage of $63,260, 39 of 50 states and about 12.5% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Michigan reports figures for, this is number 207.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,260 you keep $50,572, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,694 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,400, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan's $63,260 median for occupational therapy assistants places it 39 of 50 states, about 12.5% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Michigan's occupational distribution, occupational therapy assistants sits at 207 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.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for occupational therapy assistants on $63,260 is $50,572. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,694 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 $65,400 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,310 |
| This salary | $63,260 |
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 | $50,572 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,009 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$856 |
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 | $60,226 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,035 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,260 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,270 and the ninetieth is $79,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $50,572, worked from $63,260. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 207 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,694 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 207.
- The Michigan median of $63,260 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,270 to $79,310. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Michigan take-home of $50,572, on $63,260 for work ranking 207 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 207 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,694, worked from $63,260, 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 207 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $65,400, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,270 and the top tenth $79,310, 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 $53,694 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $50,572 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $65,400. 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 ($52,270 to $79,310) 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 $53,694 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 $50,572 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.