Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,741
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$7,089
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,763
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
$39,830
Kept after tax
$32,741
Worth in national money
$34,763
State rank
28
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Michigan pays this job around $39,830 at the midpoint, 28 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Michigan publishes, this job lands at 410. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Michigan is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,830 the take-home is $32,741; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,763 would nationally. The average comes to $49,740, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For teaching assistants, postsecondary the Michigan median is $39,830, ranking 28 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Michigan, this work ranks 410 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Michigan, on $39,830, is $32,741 — equivalent to $34,763 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 $49,740 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,420 |
| This salary | $39,830 |
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 | $32,741 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,183 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$414 |
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 | $38,035 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$501 |
| 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary in Michigan earn under $39,830 and half over. The published range runs $33,240 at the tenth percentile to $76,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Michigan the take-home figure of $32,741, from $39,830, 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 410 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $34,763, the adjusted value of that $39,830 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 410 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,240 to $76,420; 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 $32,741 from $39,830. 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 410 of 493 locally.
- This $34,763 adjusted figure, worked from $39,830, 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 410 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 410 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 $49,740, 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 $33,240 at the bottom tenth to $76,420 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 $34,763.
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, $32,741 remains.
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 45 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 $49,740. 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 ($33,240) and the ninetieth ($76,420) 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 $34,763 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 $32,741 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.