Soil and Plant Scientists in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,193
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$13,197
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,415
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
$65,390
Kept after tax
$52,193
Worth in national money
$55,415
State rank
35
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Michigan pays soil and plant scientists a middle wage of $65,390, 35 of 46 states and about 17.07% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Soil and plant scientists ranks 188 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $65,390 you keep $52,193 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,415 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $75,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan's $65,390 median for soil and plant scientists places it 35 of 46 states, about 17.07% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 188 of 493 in Michigan places soil and plant scientists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $52,193 after the full tax stack, from $65,390. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,415 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $75,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,100 |
| This salary | $65,390 |
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 | $52,193 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,721 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$896 |
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 | $62,243 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,084 |
| 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 $65,390. The published range is $50,640 up to $130,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $52,193, from $65,390, 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 188 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $55,415, the adjusted value of that $65,390 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Michigan. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 188 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for soil and plant scientists in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,640 to $130,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,193 from $65,390. 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 188 of 493 locally.
- This $55,415 adjusted figure, worked from $65,390, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 188 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 188 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 $75,210, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,640 at the bottom tenth to $130,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $55,415.
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 $52,193.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $75,210. 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 ($50,640) and the ninetieth ($130,100) 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 $55,415 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 $52,193 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.