What Dishwashers earn in Wayne County, MI
According to the latest federal wage data for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, the median pay for Dishwashers in Wayne County, MI is $34,350 a year, or $16.51 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $28,515 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Wayne County, MI.
The mean wage is $33,560, which is 2.3% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 4,840 people working in this occupation across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Wayne County, MI has roughly 1,772,259 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Dishwashers in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $27,860 a year ($13.39 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $38,230 or more ($18.38 an hour). That is a gap of $10,370 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $29,070 at the 25th percentile and $37,440 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $16.51 an hour or $34,350 a year at the median for Wayne County, MI. Before any deductions, that is $2,863 a month, $1,321 every two weeks and $661 each week. After taxes the same job pays $13.71 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Dishwashers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Dishwashers this way: "Clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Wash dishes, glassware, flatware, pots, or pans, using dishwashers or by hand"; "Place clean dishes, utensils, or cooking equipment in storage areas"; "Maintain kitchen work areas, equipment, or utensils in clean and orderly condition"; "Stock supplies, such as food or utensils, in serving stations, cupboards, refrigerators, or salad bars".
Job outlook for Dishwashers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 480,400 jobs in 2025 to 475,600 in 2035, a change of -1%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 68,900 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 14.3% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $34,810 for this occupation; the Wayne County, MI median of $34,350 is 1.3% below it.
How pay in Wayne County, MI compares
Compared with the Michigan average
A worker in this occupation in Wayne County, MI earns $2,334 more than the Michigan average of $32,016, a premium of 7.3%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,334 before tax and roughly $1,938 after tax. Within Michigan, Wayne County, MI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Dishwashers is $33,509 across the contiguous United States. At $34,350, Wayne County, MI pays $841 more, which is 2.5% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Wayne County, MI
Among the 590 occupations with published wages in Wayne County, MI, Dishwashers ranks number 566 by median pay, ahead of about 4% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $170,040 a year, which is $135,690 more than the median for Dishwashers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Dishwashers earning the Wayne County, MI median of $34,350, they add up to $5,835. The result is $28,515 of take-home pay a year ($2,376 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $18,600. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,994, an effective 5.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,130 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $498. FICA totals $2,628, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Michigan
Michigan income tax on this salary is $1,213 a year, or 3.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 61% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $101 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Wayne County, MI
IRS Statistics of Income data for Wayne County, MI show an average adjusted gross income of $69,184 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.7%, compared with the 5.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Wayne County, MI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Wayne County, MI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $28,515 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Wayne County, MI, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,167 a month ($14,004 a year), and at $1,459 for two bedrooms. For Dishwashers, a one-bedroom absorbs 49.1% of take-home pay and 40.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 10.0% of gross pay for Dishwashers in Wayne County, MI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Michigan residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,039 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $416, for $2,455 in total. Gasoline in Michigan averages $3.10 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,436.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $21,331 a year in Wayne County, MI. Subtract that from $28,515 of take-home pay and $7,184 remains, which is $599 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 20.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Wayne County, MI
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Wayne County, MI: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Wayne County, MI, set beside the Michigan and national medians.
Property taxes in Wayne County, MI
Homeowners in Wayne County, MI pay a median of $2,904 a year in real estate taxes, in line with the Michigan median of $2,904 and 7% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $178,500, the median tax bill is 1.63% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Dishwashers median of $34,350, a tax bill of that size would equal 8.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Wayne County, MI
Renters in Wayne County, MI pay a median gross rent of $1,132 a month in the Census survey, in line with the Michigan median of $1,129. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,167 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $178,500, 23% below the Michigan median of $231,600. Median household income is $60,539, 17% below the Michigan median of $72,875, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.1% of that income.
Commuting in Wayne County, MI
Workers in Wayne County, MI who travel to a workplace spend an average of 24.7 minutes each way, 2% above the Michigan average of 24.2. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.1 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.1% of workers in Wayne County, MI work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Dishwashers afford to live in Wayne County, MI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $34,350 that ceiling is $859 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,167 is $308 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.44 an hour; the median for Dishwashers is $16.51, which is 26% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $13.71 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,459 a month means $730 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,250 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $12,434.
How fast you can save
At $599 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 17 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 34 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Dishwashers pay in Wayne County, MI
How much do Dishwashers make per hour in Wayne County, MI?
The median is $16.51 per hour, based on $34,350 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.39 at the 10th percentile to $18.38 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Dishwashers take home after taxes in Wayne County, MI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $34,350 becomes $28,515 a year. That is $2,376 a month, $1,097 every two weeks or $548 a week.
How much tax do Dishwashers pay in Wayne County, MI?
Total taxes are $5,835 a year, an effective rate of 17.0%: $1,994 federal income tax, $2,628 FICA and $1,213 Michigan income tax.
Do Dishwashers earn more in Wayne County, MI than elsewhere in Michigan?
Yes. The local median of $34,350 is +7.3% versus the Michigan average of $32,016, a difference of $2,334 a year.
Can Dishwashers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Wayne County, MI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,167 a month against take-home pay of $2,376, which is 49.1% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $859 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Dishwashers in Wayne County, MI?
About $599 a month ($7,184 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,331 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Wayne County, MI at the 30% guideline?
$22.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,004 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Dishwashers is $16.51.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Michigan rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.