Waiters and Waitresses in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,166
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$6,594
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,091
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
$37,760
Kept after tax
$31,166
Worth in national money
$33,091
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan is one of the better-paying states for waiters and waitresses. The middle earner takes $37,760, which ranks 15 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 7.18% above the national middle.
- Against 493 occupations Michigan publishes, waiters and waitresses lands at 431. 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 $37,760 the take-home is $31,166; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,091 would nationally. The average comes to $44,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Michigan ranks 15 of 51 states publishing a median for waiters and waitresses, at $37,760 — about 7.18% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Michigan, this work ranks 431 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 waiters and waitresses in Michigan, on $37,760, is $31,166 — equivalent to $33,091 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 $44,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,350 |
| This salary | $37,760 |
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 | $31,166 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,520 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$375 |
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 | $36,075 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$453 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,760 as a midpoint for Michigan, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,960 and the ninetieth is $64,350 — 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 $31,166, worked from $37,760. 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 431 of 493.
- Two cautions on $33,091, the adjusted value of that $37,760 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 431 of 493 locally.
- The Michigan median of $37,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,960 to $64,350. 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 $31,166, on $37,760 for work ranking 431 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 431 of 493 in the state.
- This $33,091 adjusted figure, worked from $37,760, 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 431 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 431 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 $44,910, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $25,960 and the top tenth $64,350 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $33,091.
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 $31,166.
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 $44,910. 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 ($25,960) and the ninetieth ($64,350) 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 $33,091 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 $31,166 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.