July 15, 2026
Michigan’s roughly 4.4 million workers in 2025, as measured by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, can be categorized into 22 major occupational groups and over 800 detailed occupations. These classifications provide a detailed foundation for understanding the state’s wage structure and occupational mix. The composition of Michigan’s occupations continued to be dominated by service, healthcare, and manufacturing-related roles, reflecting the state’s diverse industrial base. The state’s median hourly wage rose in 2025 to $23.69 per hour but remained below the U.S. median wage.
Michigan’s largest employment groups over the past five years continued to be Office and administrative support; Production; Transportation and material moving; Sales and related; and Food preparation and serving related occupations. Together, these occupations accounted for over 45 percent of Michigan’s total employment in 2025. Among all 22 occupational groups, only Production; Installation, maintenance, and repair services; Architecture and engineering; Healthcare practitioners and technical; and Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations had higher shares of employment in Michigan than nationally.
Michigan’s 130,000 Architecture and engineering occupations made up 3.0 percent of statewide employment in 2025 compared to only 1.7 percent nationally, giving it a location quotient of 1.76. This means the group accounted for a share of Michigan employment that was 76 percent higher than the national average. Michigan's Architecture and engineering occupations had the second highest share of jobs in the country, behind New Mexico (3.1 percent). It also represented Michigan’s highest share among all other major occupational groups in 2025, surpassing Production occupations since 2022. Within the state, the highest concentration of Architecture and engineering occupations were found in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Ann Arbor, and Kalamazoo-Portage metropolitan regions.
Production occupations remained a major part of Michigan’s occupational structure, with 418,000 jobs and 9.5 percent of statewide employment, compared with 5.5 percent nationally. The group had a location quotient of 1.72, ranking just behind Architecture and engineering occupations in Michigan. The location quotient for production jobs in Michigan ranked fourth among states and D.C., following Indiana (2.01), Alabama (1.85), and Wisconsin (1.82). The median wage for Production occupations in Michigan was $22.34 per hour, which was 1.1 percent lower than the national level and ranked 38th. In Michigan, close to 40 percent of production jobs were paid above the statewide median wage in 2025.
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Location Quotient of Major Occupational Groups, 2025
Location quotient: The ratio of an occupation's share of employment in a given area to that occupation's share of employment in the U.S. as a whole.
Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Michigan’s median wage was $23.69 per hour ($49,270 annually) in 2025, slightly below the national median wage by $0.82 per hour. Michigan ranked 28th among states and D.C. for median wage, dropping from 27th, where it ranked in 2023 and 2024. Although Michigan’s median wage continued to rise in 2025, growth slowed, and it remained near the middle nationally.
Michigan Employment Share and Median Hourly Wage by Major Occupational Group, 2025
Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Median wages in major occupational groups show variation between technical occupations and service-related occupations. Management; Architecture and engineering; Computer and mathematical; Legal; and Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations were among the higher-wage groups.
The Management occupations group had the highest median wage in Michigan, at $54.83 per hour, which was $6.00 lower than the national median wage for this group. Four major groups in Michigan had median wages above their national levels in 2025: Farming, fishing, and forestry; Protective service; Construction and extraction; and Architecture and engineering occupations.
Food preparation and serving related occupations had the lowest median wage among all Michigan occupational groups in 2025, at $16.14 per hour. This was $0.71, or 4.2 percent below the national median of $16.85, ranking Michigan near the middle among states. Michigan’s minimum wage increased from $10.56 to $12.48 per hour in February 2025, while the federal minimum wage remained $7.25. Despite Michigan’s higher wage floor, the median wage for this occupational group remained below the national median. Personal care and service; Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; Sales and related; Healthcare support; and Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations also had median wages below $20 per hour, indicating that relatively low wages extended across several service, support, sales, and natural-resource related groups.
Distribution of Michigan Jobs by Hourly Wage, 2023–2025
Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Michigan’s occupational wage distribution continued to shift toward higher wage ranges in the 2025 OEWS data, suggesting wage increases for traditionally lower-paying occupations or people moving to higher wage occupations. The share of occupations with median wages below $15 per hour declined to 12.0 percent in 2025, down from 14.2 percent in 2024 and 16.8 percent in 2023. This was the largest movement in the distribution, indicating that fewer occupations remained concentrated at the lowest wage level compared with prior years.
At the same time, higher wage ranges continued to expand. Occupations with a median wage of $50 per hour or more increased their share of total jobs to 11.9 percent in 2025, up from 10.8 percent in 2025 and 9.6 percent in 2024. The share of occupations earning $20 to $25 per hour also rose to 18.2 percent, while several middle and upper wage ranges posted smaller gains.
The $15 to $20 wage range was the largest category and represented over 1,000,000 jobs or 23.4 percent of state occupations in 2025, though its share edged down from 2023 and 2024. The $30 to $35 range also declined slightly, falling to 6.7 percent in 2025. Overall, the data pointed to a gradual upward shift in Michigan’s occupational wages.
Overall, Michigan’s 2025 OEWS data showed continued wage increases across the state. The median wage rose to $23.69 per hour but remained below the national median, placing Michigan near the middle of the nation. The share of occupations below $15 per hour declined, while the share at $50 or more increased. Architecture and engineering and Production occupations remained the state’s most concentrated major groups, reflecting Michigan’s technical and industrial employment base.
