November 08, 2024
This Public Safety report focuses on selected occupations that play an important role in the day-to-day functioning and emergency responsiveness of communities throughout the state. These include those employed in the public and private sectors and were largely defined using O*NET Online’s Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security career cluster. Additional occupations were defined with state partners involved with the Public Safety workforce and training statewide.
Michigan’s public safety sector comprises five different subsectors. These include Community and social services; Emergency and fire management services; Legal services; Security, protective, and correction services; and Law enforcement services.
In total, these occupations employed 207,700 across the state in 2023. Community and social services occupations had the greatest share of employment at 31.8 percent, employing 66,000. This was followed by Security, protective, and correction services and Emergency and fire management services at 22.9 percent and 19.0 percent, respectively. Legal services employed 15.2 percent of the sector while Law enforcement services employed just 11.0 percent of the sector.
The median hourly wage for Public Safety occupations was $29.84 in 2023. This was greater than the statewide median hourly wage for all occupations of $22.57. These wages varied widely by subsector. Legal services had the highest median hourly wage at $43.51. Security, protective, and correction services was the only sector with a median hourly wage ($20.89) lower than the statewide median hourly wage for all occupations.
Public Safety Share of Employment by Subsector, 2023
Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
Employment in Public Safety occupations is expected to increase by 3.4 percent from 2022 to 2032, exceeding the statewide growth rate of 0.6 percent. Together, these occupations are projected to have 18,900 openings annually over the period. Public Safety occupations that only require a high school diploma or equivalent account for nearly 45 percent of these projected annual openings. However, total employment of Public Safety occupations within this educational group is projected to decrease 2.5 percent over the period. Employment among occupations typically requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher is expected to increase 11.6 percent.
Among the five subsectors, Emergency and fire management services related occupations have the highest projected growth rate of 11.1 percent and third highest share of annual openings at 17.4 percent. Community and social services occupations have the second highest projected growth rate of 8.4 percent and accounts for 31.4 percent of Public Safety annual openings. Employment in Security, protective, and correction services occupations are projected to decrease by 5.4 percent through 2032, however the subsector is expected to account for nearly 30 percent of annual openings within Public Safety.
Projected Annual Openings Through 2032 by Public Safety Subsector
Source: 2022–2032 Occupational Employment Projections, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
Since 2015, online job ad trends for Public Safety occupations have tracked total statewide job ads closely. Annual job ads rose substantially in 2021 and 2022, with the growth in total statewide ads slightly outpacing Public Safety job postings. In 2023, annual job ad postings for both declined but were still around 30 percent higher than in 2015.
Annual postings for Public Safety occupations typically exceed 30,000 and reached upwards of 40,000 in 2021 and 2022. In context, Public Safety occupations have accounted for approximately 4.0 to 4.3 percent of total online job ads in Michigan since 2015. In 2023, job ads in the sector measured 37,200.
From January to September 2024, the Public Safety sector has recorded just over 34,400 job ads. Occupations within Community and social services had the greatest share of ads within the sector at 42.9 percent. This was followed by Emergency and fire management services at 25.9 percent. Law enforcement services ads measured just 4.2 percent of all ads within Public Safety.
Online Job Advertisements Index, Michigan Public Safety Sector (Index Year: 2015)
Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine, Burning Glass Technologies
The Public Safety sector consists of a variety of occupations that are attainable by individuals across the spectrum of education levels, skills, and interests. Occupations within Public Safety tend to display wages greater than the statewide median wage for all occupations as well as high projected growth rates through 2032. While most employment is concentrated among the more populous regions of Michigan, the sector remains important across the state. This is particularly true in the Upper Peninsula where 6.6 percent of regional employment was in the Public Safety sector.
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