Painters, Construction and Maintenance in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,975
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$9,675
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,506
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
$50,650
Kept after tax
$40,975
Worth in national money
$43,506
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan sits in the middle of the pack for painters, construction and maintenance. The median is $50,650, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Painters, construction and maintenance ranks 294 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,650 you keep $40,975, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,506 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,920, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Michigan occupies the middle band for painters, construction and maintenance: a median of $50,650, ranking 21 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.
- Position 294 of 493 in Michigan places painters, construction and maintenance in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for painters, construction and maintenance on $50,650 is $40,975. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,506 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 $55,920 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Painters, Construction and Maintenance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,670 |
| This salary | $50,650 |
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 | $40,975 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$618 |
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 | $48,283 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$748 |
| 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 painters, construction and maintenance in Michigan earn under $50,650 and half over. The published range runs $37,440 at the tenth percentile to $75,670 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,975 take-home in Michigan comes from $50,650. 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 294 of 493.
- Two cautions on $43,506, the adjusted value of that $50,650 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Michigan. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 294 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for painters, construction and maintenance in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,440 to $75,670; 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 $40,975, from $50,650, 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 294 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- This $43,506 adjusted figure, worked from $50,650, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 294 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 294 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 $55,920 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,440 and the top tenth $75,670 — 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 $43,506.
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, $40,975 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $55,920. 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 ($37,440) and the ninetieth ($75,670) 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 $43,506 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 $40,975 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.