September 15, 2025
Long‑term projections outline the estimated growth of industries and occupations across Michigan and its regions, offering stakeholders crucial data to support informed, data-driven decisions and economic insight. Workforce development agencies and training institutions can leverage these insights to identify the skills and training needed for a resilient labor force. Each July, the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics releases 10-year employment projections. The projections alternate each year, publishing statewide projections in even years and regional projections in odd years. In 2024, these statewide projections detailed industry and occupation changes expected between 2022 and 2032.
In 2025, the long-term projections focused on the same period but shifted attention to Michigan’s 10 Prosperity Regions. All but two regions are projected to increase the number of jobs during the 10-year period. It is expected that the Upper Peninsula and Northwest will expand at the greatest rate, while West Michigan will add the greatest number of jobs.
When comparing job growth across regions with different population sizes and industry compositions, it is important to consider both the percent change and the number of jobs added or lost. Percent change reveals which industries or occupations are growing or declining the fastest, while looking at the total number of jobs can show which will have the greatest impact on Michigan's job market.
In 2024, the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics released long‑term projections estimating job growth statewide between 2022 and 2032. These projections anticipate a net increase of 25,000 jobs, representing approximately 0.6 percent growth.
Most industries are projected to increase in employment over this 10‑year period, with four sectors gaining more than 5 percent each. The industry expected to see the largest percentage gain is Management of companies and enterprises, projected to grow by 9.2 percent, equivalent to 6,700 new jobs. Conversely, Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-11.8 percent) and Retail trade (-6.0 percent) are expected to experience the steepest declines.
However, in terms of raw job increases, Health care and social assistance leads all sectors—projected to add 46,600 jobs, or 7.5 percent, the second most in percentage terms. The second‑largest increase is projected in Professional, scientific, and technical services, with 19,900 additional jobs expected, less than half the gain of the health sector.
Projections data not only estimate growth across industries but also by occupation based on the Standard Occupation Classification system. This system categorizes jobs into over 850 standardized occupation titles. These occupations are also grouped into one of 22 major occupation groups. The fastest rate of growth is expected from occupations categorized as Healthcare support (11.5 percent) and Computer and mathematical (11.3 percent). Healthcare support occupations are also expected to add the most jobs (21,810), followed by Healthcare practitioners (16,020). Only six of the major occupational groups are expected to see a decline during the period. Administrative support (-7.6 percent) and Production (-6.0 percent) occupations are expected to see the largest contractions.
Regional projections are produced for Michigan’s 10 Prosperity Regions, highlighting varying employment trends and growth rates throughout the state. Eight out of the 10 Prosperity Regions are expected to contribute to the overall growth statewide. The West Michigan region is projected to lead job gains, with an estimated 9,700 new jobs, representing a 1.3 percent increase. Both the Upper Peninsula and Northwest Michigan are expected to see the strongest proportional growth in employment over the decade, each with a 2.4 percent increase. In contrast, the Detroit Metro region is projected to see the largest decline, with 6,600 fewer jobs, equating to a 0.4 percent decrease. The East Central region is the only other region expected to record job losses over this period, with a 0.6 percent employment decline (approximately -1,300 jobs). This represents a slightly larger drop than the Detroit Metro region in percentage terms.
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10-year Percent and Numeric Change of Each Prosperity Region in Michigan, 2022-2032
Source: 2022-2032 Michigan Regional Long-Term Employment Projections, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
From 2022 to 2032, employment in Michigan’s goods-producing sectors is expected to decrease in nine out of the 10 Prosperity Regions. The Detroit Metro region stands out with the steepest loss—an estimated 11,300 jobs, surpassing the combined reductions of the other nine regions. Detroit’s contraction of 3.8 percent is the third largest among all regions in percentage terms, trailing slightly behind Southeast and East Central Michigan, both projected to shrink by 4.0 percent. In contrast, the Northwest region is the lone region expected to expand, with a modest gain of 150 jobs—a 0.6 percent increase.
In the service-producing sectors, all regions are projected to post gains. West Michigan is expected to lead with an addition of 11,200 jobs, a 2.1 percent growth rate. Despite lagging in the goods sector, the Detroit Metro region is expected to add 9,600 service industry jobs, representing a 0.6 percent increase, though it remains the slowest growth rate among the regions. Meanwhile, the Northeast Michigan region is projected to experience the strongest proportional growth in services at 3.5 percent, particularly in the Wholesale trade sector, which is expected to surge by 50.3 percent with 740 new jobs.
Looking across all 10 regions, three industry sectors are projected to demonstrate consistent employment growth across the state. Health care and social assistance is anticipated to expand by 7.5 percent statewide, with regional variations ranging from 4.4 percent in the Northwest to 9.2 percent in East Michigan. Transportation and warehousing is expected to grow by 7.1 percent statewide; gains are highest in the Upper Peninsula (+8.4 percent), South Central (+7.4 percent), and East Michigan (+7.1 percent), with each meeting or exceeding the statewide average. Employment in the Professional, scientific, and technical services sector is projected to increase by 6.3 percent statewide. Among the regions, the Northeast leads with 12.1 percent growth (adding 160 jobs), followed by the Upper Peninsula and East regions, with both expected to advance by 9.2 percent.
Despite this anticipated growth, projections indicate that two industry sectors will experience job losses across all regions: Retail trade (-6.0 percent statewide) and Manufacturing (-3.0 percent). Although statewide employment in the Manufacturing sector is projected to decline by 3.0 percent between 2022 and 2032, the contraction varies considerably across Michigan’s Prosperity Regions—ranging from a modest 0.4 percent reduction in the Northwest to a more substantial 5.7 percent drop in Southeast Michigan. Despite ranking fourth in percentage decline among the regions, the Detroit Metro region is projected to undergo the largest numeric loss (-10,500) of Manufacturing jobs out of all 10 regions. Given its size, the Detroit Metro region’s losses have a disproportionately large impact on the statewide decline, exceeding the Manufacturing job losses of all other regions combined.
Sixteen of the 22 major occupational groups are projected to add jobs statewide between 2022 and 2032. Among them, the Healthcare support occupations group is expected to contribute the greatest percent increase in every Prosperity Region except the Northwest—where it remains the second fastest growing group. Statewide projections expect 11.5 percent growth for this sector, with regional projections ranging from 7.0 percent in the Northwest to a robust 12.7 percent in East Michigan. Other regions such as Southeast (+12.5 percent), Northeast (+12.2 percent), and West Michigan (+11.7 percent) are all expected to outpace the statewide rate, underscoring continued demand for these positions.
Michigan Healthcare Support Occupations, 2022-2032
Source: 2022-2032 Michigan Regional Long-Term Employment Projections, Michigan Center for Data and Analytics
By contrast, only three occupational groups are expected to experience a decline in employment over the decade in all 10 Prosperity Regions—specifically, Protective services, Office and administrative support, and Production occupations. Protective services are expected to contract most significantly in East Central (-6.0 percent), Southeast Michigan (-5.8 percent), and the Upper Peninsula (-4.8 percent), with East Michigan seeing the smallest relative decline at just 0.3 percent.
Office and administrative occupations are projected to shrink by 16,800 jobs (-7.7 percent) in Metro Detroit alone, the largest drop in percentage and numeric terms statewide. Southeast (-3,300 jobs) and East Central Michigan (-1,800 jobs) are both expected to decline by around 6.9 percent, while it is anticipated West Michigan will lose 4,600 positions, the second highest in numeric terms.
Production occupations are expected to experience the steepest proportional employment drop over the decade in Detroit—losing 12,200 jobs (-7.1 percent)—followed by East Central (-1,200 jobs, -6.7 percent) and Southeast Michigan (-2,200 jobs, -6.6 percent). Though lower in percentage decline, West Michigan will still see a larger number of job losses (-3,000) than either East Central or Southeast Michigan.
Learn more about which occupations are expected to contribute to job growth in Michigan in this month’s Relevant Rankings article.
Regional projections offer valuable insights into how Michigan’s industries and occupations are evolving at the local level. Although the statewide projections indicate overall growth, each Prosperity Region can tell a unique story—sometimes diverging from the broader trend. For example, employment projections for Michigan’s 10 Prosperity Regions anticipate job growth rates ranging from a 0.6 percent decline to a 2.4 percent increase between 2022 and 2032. Examining both the magnitude and the direction of growth across regions can reveal where opportunities lie and highlight areas that do not align with the state’s economic trajectory.
