Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,921
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$9,029
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,324
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
$47,950
Kept after tax
$38,921
Worth in national money
$41,324
State rank
38
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Michigan. The middle earner gets $47,950. That is 38 of 47 states, and about 6.58% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 321 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,950 you keep $38,921, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,324 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,830, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For structural metal fabricators and fitters, Michigan sits in the lower band at $47,950, ranking 38 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 6.58%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 321 of 493 in Michigan places structural metal fabricators and fitters 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.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for structural metal fabricators and fitters on $47,950 is $38,921. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,324 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 $51,830 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,580 |
| This salary | $47,950 |
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 | $38,921 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,708 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$567 |
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 | $45,726 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$686 |
| 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 structural metal fabricators and fitters in Michigan earn under $47,950 and half over. The published range runs $37,960 at the tenth percentile to $67,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $38,921, from $47,950, 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 321 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,324, the adjusted value of that $47,950 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 321 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for structural metal fabricators and fitters in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,960 to $67,580; 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.
- Take-home for Michigan is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,921 from $47,950. 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 321 of 493 locally.
- This $41,324 adjusted figure, worked from $47,950, 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 321 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 321 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $51,830 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,960 at the bottom tenth to $67,580 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 $41,324 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 $38,921 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $51,830. 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 ($37,960 to $67,580) 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 $41,324 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 $38,921 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.