Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,847
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$27,213
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,778
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
$107,060
Kept after tax
$79,847
Worth in national money
$84,778
State rank
6
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Michigan's middle earner gets $107,060, putting the state 6 of 45 — about 9.17% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Michigan. It ranks 43 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $107,060 the take-home is $79,847; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $84,778 would nationally. The average comes to $126,270, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For political science teachers, postsecondary, Michigan sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $107,060, ranking 6 of 45 and running about 9.17% 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.
- Within Michigan, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 43 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for political science teachers, postsecondary in Michigan, on $107,060, is $79,847 — equivalent to $84,778 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 $126,270 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $225,510 |
| This salary | $107,060 |
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 | $79,847 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,147 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,815 |
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 | $100,949 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,507 |
| 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 political science teachers, postsecondary in Michigan earn under $107,060 and half over. The published range runs $61,020 at the tenth percentile to $225,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $79,847, worked from $107,060. 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 43 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $84,778, the adjusted value of that $107,060 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 43 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for political science teachers, postsecondary in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,020 to $225,510; 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.
- The Michigan take-home of $79,847, on $107,060 for work ranking 43 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 43 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $84,778 — the adjusted value of that $107,060 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 43 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 $126,270, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,020, the highest tenth $225,510, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $84,778 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 $79,847.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $126,270. 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 ($61,020) and the ninetieth ($225,510) 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 $84,778 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 $79,847 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.