Jobs and pay in Michigan

The highest-paying occupations in Michigan

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1. Radiologists$485,920
2. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$428,570
3. Cardiologists$419,030
4. Emergency medicine physicians$417,760
5. Dermatologists$414,910
6. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$413,450
7. Surgeons, all other$412,460
8. Orthodontists$357,090
9. Physicians, pathologists$303,070
10. Psychiatrists$291,850
11. Chief executives$255,560
12. Nurse anesthetists$247,010
13. Dentists, all other specialists$229,150
14. Family medicine physicians$214,070
15. Obstetricians and gynecologists$209,650
16. Pediatricians, general$204,690
17. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$179,720
18. Dentists, general$169,930
19. Architectural and engineering managers$166,930
20. Computer and information systems managers$163,760
21. Podiatrists$162,140
22. Physicians, all other$155,480
23. Compensation and benefits managers$151,620
24. General internal medicine physicians$149,990
25. Purchasing managers$142,120

Where the jobs actually are in Michigan

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators112,310 employed
2. Retail salespersons111,010 employed
3. Registered nurses104,950 employed
4. Fast food and counter workers103,130 employed
5. Home health and personal care aides95,020 employed
6. Cashiers92,930 employed
7. Office clerks, general88,030 employed
8. General and operations managers85,860 employed
9. Stockers and order fillers82,730 employed
10. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand79,410 employed
11. Customer service representatives71,310 employed
12. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners65,790 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses65,090 employed
14. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers60,800 employed
15. Software developers43,460 employed
16. Nursing assistants43,290 employed
17. Accountants and auditors41,460 employed
18. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products40,960 employed
19. Elementary school teachers, except special education40,910 employed
20. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive40,830 employed
21. Maintenance and repair workers, general39,490 employed
22. Cooks, restaurant39,100 employed
23. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary39,030 employed
24. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks37,550 employed
25. Mechanical engineers34,630 employed

The best-paid Michigan work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Commercial pilots$126,670 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Air traffic controllers$118,930 · Associate's degree
3. Power distributors and dispatchers$116,780 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$106,890 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$106,600 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Power plant operators$105,820 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Gambling managers$101,860 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Gas plant operators$100,500 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$99,140 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$99,100 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Boilermakers$98,220 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$98,140 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Postmasters and mail superintendents$97,790 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$96,890 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Media and communication equipment workers, all other$96,530 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Radiation therapists$95,890 · Associate's degree
17. Nuclear medicine technologists$95,400 · Associate's degree
18. Signal and track switch repairers$93,060 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Reinforcing iron and rebar workers$91,220 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Detectives and criminal investigators$90,650 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Millwrights$89,190 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$84,620 · Associate's degree
23. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$84,030 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Dental hygienists$83,790 · Associate's degree
25. Stationary engineers and boiler operators$82,800 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Michigan does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Michigan employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Model makers, metal and plastic lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states