How many people are employed in Michigan?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Michigan has 4,012,577 employees across 228,604 business establishments in 1037 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Michigan?

The largest industries in Michigan by employment are Full-Service Restaurants (146,525), Limited-Service Restaurants (143,754), and Temporary Help Services (143,666).

What is the average payroll in Michigan?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Michigan. The highest-paying tracked industry is Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation at $189,288/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Michigan?

Michigan has 228,604 business establishments across 1037 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MI · Census CBP 2023

Michigan Industry Benchmarks

Name: Michigan Industry Employment and Payroll Benchmarks
Creator: PlainBizBench
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 1037 industries in Michigan. Drill into any industry for a Michigan-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

4.0M
Workers: 229K
Establishments: 1037
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Michigan

Michigan employs 4,012,577 workers across 1037 tracked industries, led by Full-Service Restaurants (146,525 workers).

No single sector dominates Michigan (lead 16%; top-three 43%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Michigan sector employment mix

Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.

Michigan private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Michigan spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 16% of 4,012,577 private-sector workers (about the 80th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MI breadth ledger · HHI 0.097
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	645,129	16%
Manufacturing (31)	604,978	15%
Retail Trade (44)	464,027	12%
Top-three cumulative 43% - no single NAICS-2 block dominates.

Profit margins are national (IRS SOI); open any industry row below, then the matching national industry page for profitability.

Census CBP firm roll

County Business Patterns MI DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#10/51 · 4,012,577 workers · 228,604 firms

EMP 4,012,577
EST 228,604
RANK #10/51
PCT 80th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 16% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 17.6 /firm
BOOK 1037 NAICS
PHOTO North Carolina

Nearest employment-scale peer: North Carolina (4,036,587 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Michigan ranks #10 of 51 states and territories by total private-sector employment (level-2 sector totals, the same non-double-counted aggregate shown above). Margins stay on national industry pages (IRS SOI). Read with this state → · Lead 6-digit industry →

Census CBP level-2 private employment among this state and nearest nationwide peers

Top Industries by Employment

Industry	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	146,525	7,198	$3.6B	$24,254/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	143,754	7,923	$2.7B	$19,007/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	143,666	2,780	$5.3B	$37,002/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	118,794	1,255	$13.2B	$110,847/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	91,402	6,412	$8.3B	$91,133/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	56,455	1,685	$1.6B	$28,311/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	45,849	5,942	$1.2B	$27,047/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	38,980	1,487	$1.5B	$37,703/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	37,129	717	$2.8B	$75,706/yr
All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing NAICS 326199	36,791	363	$1.9B	$52,309/yr
Light Truck and Utility Vehicle Manufacturing NAICS 336112	34,771	10	$3.6B	$102,722/yr
Motor Vehicle Metal Stamping NAICS 336370	34,507	228	$2.3B	$65,643/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	33,989	3,795	$2.0B	$60,252/yr
Motor Vehicle Supplies and New Parts Merchant Wholesalers NAICS 423120	31,981	658	$2.8B	$88,635/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	31,272	481	$1.3B	$42,696/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	31,085	1,431	$974.4M	$31,347/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	30,546	2,661	$2.3B	$75,894/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	29,797	1,712	$869.2M	$29,172/yr
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) NAICS 541715	28,876	250	$3.9B	$134,636/yr
Other Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing NAICS 336390	26,886	176	$1.5B	$57,508/yr

Breadth peers near Michigan's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (4,012,577 in Michigan), excluding MI.

North Carolina 4,036,587 New Jersey 3,923,631 Georgia 4,374,151 Virginia 3,566,772 Massachusetts 3,473,172 Ohio 4,867,738 Tennessee 2,971,191 Arizona 2,864,269

Disclaimer: Michigan (MI) figures on this page are Census CBP employment and payroll counts for informational registry use only, not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant for decisions about Michigan businesses.

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · MI

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Michigan (MI). See our methodology.

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau → · Verify with IRS SOI →