May 14, 2026
In recognition of Apprenticeship Week from April 26 to May 2, the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics recently released its 2026 Registered Apprenticeships in Michigan Report. This report highlights statewide and regional trends from the 2025 Registered Apprenticeship fiscal year as well as an expanded analysis of wage outcomes. This article will highlight statewide trends and employment outcomes by demographic from the full report.
In 2025, there were a record 23,200 active registered apprentices in Michigan. This was an increase of more than 2,400 (11.6 percent) compared to 2024 which featured 20,800 active registered apprentices. Michigan had the fourth most active registered apprentices nationally in 2025 behind California, Texas, and Ohio.
There were a record 8,600 new registered apprentices in Michigan in 2025, up 0.6 percent from the previous record in 2024 (8,500). Michigan had just under 3,000 completers in 2025, also a record. The number of completers increased by more than 400 from 2024 (15.6 percent) and was the most completers since 2022.
Nearly 84 percent of active registered apprentices in Michigan were within the traditional Construction (67.4 percent) and Manufacturing (16.4 percent) industries. Among nontraditional industries, Health care and social assistance had the greatest share of active registered apprentices at 3.6 percent. Utilities (3.4 percent) had the next highest share.
There were a record 146 different occupations with an active registered apprentice in 2025. This eclipsed the 132 occupations represented in 2024. Nearly 4,700 of Michigan’s active registered apprentices were Construction laborers, accounting for 20.2 percent of the state’s total apprentices.
Women accounted for 10.6 percent of active registered apprentices in Michigan in 2025. This marked the seventh time in the last eight years that there were more than 2,000 women active registered apprentices across Michigan.
People of color had 3,700 active registered apprentices in 2025, accounting for 16.0 percent of the state’s total. Representation of people of color has improved each year since 2016 when people of color accounted for 10.9 percent of registered apprentices statewide.
In 2025, there were just over 1,100 active registered apprentices who were veterans in Michigan, accounting for 4.8 percent of the state’s total. There were 10,100 active youth registered apprentices, marking the first time the total surpassed 10,000. Youth accounted for 43.6 percent of active registered apprentices across the state.
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Share of Active Registered Apprentices by Demographic, 2016 and 2025
Source: Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Data System (RAPIDS), Office of Apprenticeship, U.S. Department of Labor
There were more than 1,900 Registered Apprenticeship completers in 2024 who were employed one year post-completion. These completers had a median one-year-after wage of $89,260, an increase from $84,680 for the previous year’s completers. In comparison, the median annual wage in Michigan in 2024 was $48,300.
The most recent five-year post-completion data comes from the 2020 completer cohort which had 1,500 employed and a median one-year-after wage of $73,080. Notably, these outcomes are likely to have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 1,450 individuals earning wages in Michigan five years post-completion with a median wage of $96,260.
Men had a much higher median one-year-after wage ($92,450) compared to women ($55,120) among 2024 completers. For 2020 completers, women had a median one-year-after wage of $37,120 compared to $76,300 for men. Men saw a larger jump in their median five-year-after wage ($98,270) for the same cohort compared to women ($51,820).
The median one-year-after wage for people of color completers in 2024 measured $82,620 while white completers had a median one-year-after wage of $90,390. In 2020, people of color had a median one-year-after wage of $66,720. This increased to $86,010 five years post-completion. White completers saw their median wages increase from $74,490 to $96,540.
Veterans had a greater median one-year-after wage ($93,100) among 2024 completers than nonveterans ($89,280). Both veterans and nonveterans saw substantial wage increases from one year after completion to five years after. Among 2020 completers, veterans had a median one-year-after wage of $77,900 which increased to $103,660 five years post-completion. Nonveterans had a median one-year-after wage of $75,740 which increased to $97,720 five years post-completion.
Among 2024 completers, youth had a lower median one-year-after wage ($86,180) than non-youth completers ($91,480). Both youth and non-youth completers showed significant wage increases. In 2020, youth completers had a median one-year-after wage of $64,780 which increased to $89,080 five years post-completion. Non-youth increased from $76,100 to $98,200 among the 2020 cohort.
Median One-Year-After and Median Five-Years-After Wages for 2020 Completers by Demographic
Source: Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Data System (RAPIDS), Office of Apprenticeship, U.S. Department of Labor; Michigan Center for Data and Analytics Analysis of Unemployment Insurance Wage Record Data
