Recreation Workers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,134
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$5,956
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,933
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
$35,090
Kept after tax
$29,134
Worth in national money
$30,933
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan sits in the middle of the pack for recreation workers. The median is $35,090, ranking 26 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Michigan, this one sits low: 462 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,090 you keep $29,134 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,933 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan occupies the middle band for recreation workers: a median of $35,090, ranking 26 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.
- Recreation workers occupies position 462 of 493 in Michigan's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $29,134 after the full tax stack, from $35,090. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,933 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,740 |
| This salary | $35,090 |
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 | $29,134 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,375 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$325 |
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 | $33,546 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$392 |
| 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 recreation workers in Michigan earn under $35,090 and half over. The published range runs $29,020 at the tenth percentile to $47,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $29,134, from $35,090, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 462 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,933 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 462.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,020 to $47,740; 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.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,134 from $35,090. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 462 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,933, worked from $35,090, 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 462 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,020 at the bottom tenth to $47,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $30,933 in national terms.
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, $29,134 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $37,240. 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 ($29,020 to $47,740) 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 $30,933 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 $29,134 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.