Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,343
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$16,697
22.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,008
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
$76,040
Kept after tax
$59,343
Worth in national money
$63,008
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Michigan pays this job a middle wage of $76,040, ranking 15 of 51 states and sitting about 13.82% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 144 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,040 the take-home is $59,343; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $63,008 would nationally. The average lands at $71,920, below the middle of the range.
- Michigan's median for special education teachers, middle school is $76,040, about 13.82% above the national figure and 15 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 144 of 493 in Michigan places special education teachers, middle school 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.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, middle school in Michigan, on $76,040, is $59,343 — equivalent to $63,008 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 $71,920 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,350 |
| This salary | $76,040 |
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 | $59,343 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,324 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,128 |
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 | $71,803 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,558 |
| 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 special education teachers, middle school in Michigan earn under $76,040 and half over. The published range runs $46,790 at the tenth percentile to $93,350 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 $59,343, worked from $76,040. 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 144 of 493.
- Two cautions on $63,008, the adjusted value of that $76,040 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 144 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, middle school in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,790 to $93,350; 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 $59,343, on $76,040 for work ranking 144 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 144 of 493 in the state.
- This $63,008 adjusted figure, worked from $76,040, 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 144 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 144 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 $71,920, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $46,790 at the bottom tenth to $93,350 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 $63,008 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 $59,343.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $71,920. 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 ($46,790 to $93,350) 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 $63,008 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 $59,343 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.