Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,812
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$18,988
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,752
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
$82,800
Kept after tax
$63,812
Worth in national money
$67,752
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Michigan's middle earner gets $82,800, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 5.32% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Michigan. It ranks 109 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $82,800 you keep $63,812 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,752 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $77,930.
- For stationary engineers and boiler operators, Michigan sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $82,800, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 5.32% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Michigan, stationary engineers and boiler operators ranks 109 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $63,812 after the full tax stack, from $82,800. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,752 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $77,930 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,630 |
| This salary | $82,800 |
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 | $63,812 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,080 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,278 |
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 | $78,154 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,765 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,800 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,510 and the ninetieth is $92,630 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $63,812, worked from $82,800. 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 109 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,752 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 109.
- The Michigan median of $82,800 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,510 to $92,630. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Michigan take-home of $63,812, on $82,800 for work ranking 109 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 109 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,752, worked from $82,800, 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 109 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 $77,930, 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 $54,510 at the bottom tenth to $92,630 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 $67,752 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, $63,812 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 $77,930. 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 ($54,510 to $92,630) 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 $67,752 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 $63,812 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.