Operations Research Analysts in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,261
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$19,219
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,229
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
$83,480
Kept after tax
$64,261
Worth in national money
$68,229
State rank
30
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays operations research analysts around $83,480 at the midpoint, 30 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Michigan this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, operations research analysts ranks 105 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $83,480 you keep $64,261, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $68,229 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $94,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For operations research analysts the Michigan median is $83,480, ranking 30 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Michigan publishes a median for, operations research analysts sits 105 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 operations research analysts on $83,480 is $64,261. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $68,229 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 $94,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $139,880 |
| This salary | $83,480 |
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 | $64,261 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,558 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,293 |
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 | $78,793 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,786 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $83,480 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,650 and the ninetieth is $139,880 — 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 $64,261, worked from $83,480. 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 105 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $68,229 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 105.
- The Michigan median of $83,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,650 to $139,880. 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 $64,261, on $83,480 for work ranking 105 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 105 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $68,229, worked from $83,480, 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 105 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 $94,890, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,650 and the top tenth $139,880 — 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 $68,229.
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, $64,261 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 47 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 $94,890. 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 ($61,650) and the ninetieth ($139,880) 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 $68,229 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 $64,261 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.