Highest Paying Jobs in Michigan

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$485,920

Radiologists

Top 25 Average

$269,837

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Michigan by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Radiologists pays a state median of $485,920, +15% above the national median of $420,860 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Michigan - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $394,411, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 40 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Michigan, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Michigan is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Michigan, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$485,920	$420,860	+15% above	360
2	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$428,570	$232,140	+85% above	N/A
3	Cardiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$419,030	$496,010	16% below	340
4	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$417,760	$335,550	+25% above	910
5	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$414,910	$328,730	+26% above	N/A
6	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$413,450	$358,550	+15% above	200
7	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$412,460	$414,010	same as	440
8	Orthodontists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$357,090	$289,140	+24% above	140
9	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$303,070	$312,400	3% below	140
10	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$291,850	$281,870	+4% above	560
11	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$255,560	$213,990	+19% above	4,950
12	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$247,010	$236,590	+4% above	2,300
13	Dentists, All Other Specialists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$229,150	$224,990	+2% above	130
14	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$214,070	$244,180	12% below	3,770
15	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$209,650	$292,910	28% below	880
16	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$204,690	$210,040	3% below	1,340
17	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$179,720	$300,080	40% below	150
18	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$169,930	$170,950	1% below	3,620
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$166,930	$171,270	3% below	14,820
20	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$163,760	$175,140	6% below	16,010
21	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$162,140	$160,300	+1% above	350
22	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$155,480	$265,930	42% below	13,150
23	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$151,620	$149,230	+2% above	580
24	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$149,990	$256,560	42% below	2,060
25	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$142,120	$148,080	4% below	2,780
26	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$141,680	$128,500	+10% above	330
27	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$139,370	$166,570	16% below	22,490
28	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$138,930	$149,280	7% below	5,890
29	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$138,510	$166,790	17% below	6,620
30	Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$138,130	$101,420	+36% above	60
31	Medical Dosimetrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$137,970	$147,470	6% below	130
32	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$137,860	$140,910	2% below	8,780
33	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$136,870	$148,270	8% below	17,950
34	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$136,130	$98,700	+38% above	240
35	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,650	$136,570	1% below	1,410
36	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$134,260	$141,900	5% below	9,380
37	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$131,510	$135,880	3% below	6,310
38	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$131,450	$132,300	1% below	8,290
39	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$131,000	$139,500	6% below	1,390
40	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$130,520	$159,670	18% below	16,620
41	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$129,940	$133,970	3% below	330
42	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$129,400	$123,920	+4% above	350
43	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$129,070	$167,220	23% below	2,220
44	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$128,960	$134,960	4% below	N/A
45	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$127,420	$117,860	+8% above	390
46	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$127,230	$109,270	+16% above	2,120
47	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$127,200	$130,220	2% below	2,960
48	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$126,670	$123,220	+3% above	1,390
49	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$125,650	$104,920	+20% above	9,140
50	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$125,570	$135,980	8% below	43,460
51	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$125,390	$130,100	4% below	2,030
52	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$125,140	$134,040	7% below	430
53	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$121,000	$122,930	2% below	7,700
54	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$120,660	$126,060	4% below	14,320
55	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$119,670	$161,740	26% below	1,420
56	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$118,930	$148,080	20% below	360
57	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$118,870	$122,570	3% below	130
58	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$118,630	$133,000	11% below	900
59	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$117,900	$146,910	20% below	1,720
60	Power Distributors and Dispatchers Production Occupations	$116,780	$106,730	+9% above	450
61	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$114,180	$124,900	9% below	2,290
62	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$113,360	$125,470	10% below	880
63	Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$112,730	$94,980	+19% above	270
64	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$112,040	$134,050	16% below	3,210
65	Business Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$111,190	$99,080	+12% above	2,240
66	Biochemists and Biophysicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$109,340	$127,410	14% below	730
67	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$109,090	$100,310	+9% above	460
68	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$108,970	$107,310	+2% above	3,430
69	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$108,500	$104,590	+4% above	5,110
70	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$108,210	$114,130	5% below	6,590
71	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$107,780	$115,160	6% below	720
72	Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$107,690	$96,980	+11% above	810
73	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$107,570	$123,860	13% below	16,060
74	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$107,410	$117,790	9% below	230
75	Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$107,060	$98,070	+9% above	380
76	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$106,890	$95,320	+12% above	2,800
77	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$106,600	$103,020	+3% above	450
78	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$106,350	$124,720	15% below	320
79	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$106,230	$129,180	18% below	3,280
80	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$106,070	$120,630	12% below	10,840
81	Power Plant Operators Production Occupations	$105,820	$102,040	+4% above	1,220
82	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,680	$116,580	9% below	7,440
83	Environmental Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$105,080	$107,110	2% below	810
84	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$104,890	$104,110	+1% above	34,630
85	Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$104,890	$99,650	+5% above	170
86	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$104,780	$103,170	+2% above	180
87	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$104,020	$105,870	2% below	9,610
88	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$103,940	$117,330	11% below	1,150
89	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$103,620	$84,620	+22% above	1,460
90	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$103,410	$105,850	2% below	14,070
91	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$103,230	$114,990	10% below	9,620
92	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$103,230	$125,040	17% below	670
93	Atmospheric and Space Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$103,210	$99,070	+4% above	150
94	Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$102,870	$84,290	+22% above	370
95	Statisticians Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$102,710	$105,650	3% below	570
96	Commercial and Industrial Designers Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$102,160	$83,910	+22% above	2,930
97	Gambling Managers Management Occupations	$101,860	$93,220	+9% above	190
98	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,680	$102,440	1% below	30,990
99	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$101,610	$133,660	24% below	220
100	Survey Researchers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$101,550	$69,460	+46% above	150

More ways to explore Michigan pay and compare with national data.

Michigan Overview

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Radiologists

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Michigan. The "Difference" column shows how Michigan pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

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