Residential Advisors in Michigan

Two armchairs facing each other in a welcoming counseling room.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$32,665

after federal, FICA and Michigan tax

Tax takes

$7,065

17.8% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$34,682

Michigan costs less than average

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

$39,730

Kept after tax

$32,665

Worth in national money

$34,682

State rank

25

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Michigan sits in the middle of the pack for residential advisors. The median is $39,730, ranking 25 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: 412 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,730 you keep $32,665, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,682 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,010, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Michigan occupies the middle band for residential advisors: a median of $39,730, ranking 25 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.
  • Residential advisors occupies position 412 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.
  • After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for residential advisors on $39,730 is $32,665. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,682 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 $42,010 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Residential Advisors

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$32,540
Half earn under$39,730
Top tenth earn over$53,830
This salary$39,730

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

Compare with
+$1,438take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Michigan$32,665
Take-home in Texas$34,103
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$412

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

Moving to
$0now · $39,730$39,232
$39,232in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$37,941
You could take a cut of−$498
Prices in Texas97 vs 94

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $39,730 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,540 and the ninetieth is $53,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • In Michigan the take-home figure of $32,665, from $39,730, 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 412 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 $34,682 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 412.
  • The Michigan median of $39,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,540 to $53,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
  • Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,665 from $39,730. 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 412 of 493 locally.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,682, worked from $39,730, 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 412 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 $42,010, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,540 at the tenth percentile, $53,830 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 $34,682 in national terms.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Michigan adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,665 of this wage survives to your account.

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 $42,010. 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 ($32,540 to $53,830) 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 $34,682 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 $32,665 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.