Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,131
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$9,409
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,609
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
$49,540
Kept after tax
$40,131
Worth in national money
$42,609
State rank
35
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 $49,540. That is 35 of 47 states, and about 15.53% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Michigan, this sits in the middle: 306 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Michigan does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,540 you keep $40,131, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,609 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,180, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For title examiners, abstractors, and searchers, Michigan sits in the lower band at $49,540, ranking 35 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 15.53%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers ranks 306 of 493 occupations in Michigan by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Michigan income tax, retained pay for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers on $49,540 is $40,131. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,609 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 $52,180 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,500 |
| This salary | $49,540 |
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 | $40,131 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$597 |
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 | $47,232 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$722 |
| 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 title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Michigan earn under $49,540 and half over. The published range runs $34,240 at the tenth percentile to $72,500 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 $40,131, worked from $49,540. 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 306 of 493.
- Two cautions on $42,609, the adjusted value of that $49,540 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 306 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Michigan, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,240 to $72,500; 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 $40,131, on $49,540 for work ranking 306 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 306 of 493 in the state.
- This $42,609 adjusted figure, worked from $49,540, 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 306 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 306 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 $52,180, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $34,240, the highest tenth $72,500, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $42,609.
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 $40,131.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $52,180. 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 ($34,240) and the ninetieth ($72,500) 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 $42,609 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 $40,131 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.