School Bus Monitors in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,148
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$5,332
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,824
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
$32,480
Kept after tax
$27,148
Worth in national money
$28,824
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is among the lower-paying states for school bus monitors. The middle earner takes $32,480, ranking 36 of 50 states — about 7.46% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Michigan, this one sits low: 476 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $32,480 you keep $27,148 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,824 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $34,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 36 of 50 for school bus monitors, with a median of $32,480 — about 7.46% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- School bus monitors occupies position 476 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 $27,148 after the full tax stack, from $32,480. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,824 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $34,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: School Bus Monitors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,700 |
| This salary | $32,480 |
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 | $27,148 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,278 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$275 |
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 | $31,074 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$333 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Michigan earn less than $32,480. The published range is $28,630 up to $42,700, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $27,148 take-home in Michigan comes from $32,480. 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 476 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,824 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 476.
- Reported values are medians; for school bus monitors in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,630 to $42,700. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $27,148, from $32,480, 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 476 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,824, worked from $32,480, 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 476 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 $34,080, 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 — $28,630 at the tenth percentile, $42,700 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Michigan sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $28,824 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $27,148 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $34,080. 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 ($28,630 to $42,700) 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 $28,824 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 $27,148 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.