Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,086
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$18,104
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,920
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
$80,190
Kept after tax
$62,086
Worth in national money
$65,920
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Michigan's middle earner gets $80,190, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 25.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Michigan this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 118 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,190 the take-home is $62,086; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $65,920 would nationally. The average lands at $77,250, below the middle of the range.
- For plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, Michigan sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $80,190, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 25.69% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation Michigan publishes a median for, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters sits 118 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.
- Post-tax income for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Michigan, on $80,190, is $62,086 — equivalent to $65,920 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 $77,250 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,430 |
| This salary | $80,190 |
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 | $62,086 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,244 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,220 |
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 | $75,702 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,685 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,190 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,560 and the ninetieth is $103,430 — 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 $62,086, worked from $80,190. 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 118 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $65,920, the adjusted value of that $80,190 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 118 of 493 in the state.
- The Michigan median of $80,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,560 to $103,430. 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 $62,086, on $80,190 for work ranking 118 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 118 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $65,920 — the adjusted value of that $80,190 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 118 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 $77,250, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,560 at the tenth percentile, $103,430 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Michigan is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $65,920 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Michigan then takes its own share, leaving $62,086.
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 $77,250. 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 ($46,560 to $103,430) 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 $65,920 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 $62,086 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.