Maintenance Technicians in the Traverse City area earn a median of $46,850 a year, 3% below the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #251 of 393 metros for maintenance technicians nationwide.
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Green Bay and Sheboygan, but less in Muskegon.
It's one of 15 Michigan metros with published pay for this trade; see maintenance technician pay in Michigan.
Maintenance Technician pay in Traverse City at a glance
- Maintenance technicians in the Traverse City, MI metro earn a median $46,850 a year ($22.52 an hour), #251 of 393 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $34,850 and $66,730.
- After local prices, that median buys what $50,176 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $1,134 a month, 29% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
Check your pay here
Enter a rate to see where it falls among maintenance technicians in Traverse City.
Comparing two real offers with overtime and commutes? Use the job offer checker.
What this means Our calculation
Pay for maintenance technicians here is below average compared with other U.S. metros, and also below average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is higher than in most metros (4.6%) and the population is growing at a typical pace (+2.2% since 2020).
Traverse City scorecard for maintenance technicians Our calculation
Grades compare Traverse City with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers. Grey line: typical U.S. metro ($48,330).
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Traverse City Our calculation
Prices in Traverse City run 7% below the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $50,176 would in a typical place, ranking #242 of 387 on real pay.
Real pay or rent burden?
Real pay already accounts for housing, because the price index includes rent. Rent burden shows what share of pay a typical 1-bedroom takes. Use either one, not both together.
Want the full picture? Build a cost-of-living budget for Traverse City from this pay, local rent and prices.
What maintenance technicians do
Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; HVAC maintenance; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions.
- Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions.
- Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges.
- Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices.
- Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, maintenance technician jobs are projected to grow 4.2% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 148,700 openings a year. About 1% are self-employed.
What the work is like Government data
How often maintenance technicians deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Michigan Official source
The main state licensing office in Michigan is the LARA Bureau of Construction Codes. It can point you to the right license for maintenance technicians.
Official Michigan licensing site ↗
Requirements for maintenance technicians vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
Nationally, maintenance technicians have 212 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.5× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
Highest-paying MI metros for maintenance technicians
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ann ArborMICHIGAN · MI | $49,170 | $48,741 | 1,680 |
| Battle CreekMICHIGAN · MI | $48,640 | $53,722 | 530 |
| Grand RapidsMICHIGAN · MI | $48,530 | $50,792 | 5,470 |
| DetroitMICHIGAN · MI | $48,380 | $48,236 | 16,190 |
| LansingMICHIGAN · MI | $47,580 | $50,089 | 1,960 |
| JacksonMICHIGAN · MI | $47,090 | $51,308 | 480 |
| MidlandMICHIGAN · MI | $46,850 | $50,968 | 280 |
| Traverse CityMICHIGAN · MI | $46,850 | $50,176 | 620 |
| KalamazooMICHIGAN · MI | $46,700 | $49,241 | 1,230 |
| MuskegonMICHIGAN · MI | $46,560 | $50,325 | 570 |
See every metro in Michigan.
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Traverse City area's unemployment rate was 4.6% in 2025 (all workers, not just maintenance technicians), above the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 5.2% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Traverse City area is 22 minutes each way, shorter than the typical metro (24 min). 10% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 73% drive alone, 1% take transit and 15% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Traverse City area's population grew 2.2% from 2020 to 2025 (153,666 → 156,972), ranking #211 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%). People moving in (net +5,927) account for more than all of the change.
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
New construction
New-home permits in Traverse City are down 34% from 2024 to 2025 (1,232 → 808).
In 2025 the Traverse City area approved permits for 808 new homes (786 single-family), or 5.2 per 1,000 residents, ranking #131 of 393 metros.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $46,850 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get maintenance technician pricing & estimate templates →Compare Traverse City with another city →
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ToolBest cities for maintenance techniciansRank every metro on pay, buying power, rent and jobs.Is a job offer here any good?
ToolCheck an offer in Traverse CitySee where it falls among local maintenance technicians, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolTraverse City budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Traverse City metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank Traverse City against every other metro for maintenance technicians. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for maintenance technicians as a separate industry, so that section is left out.