Michigan

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, affecting retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base statewide.
• Broadly in line with U.S. norms across income, poverty, education, and age.

• Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 640,633 workers (19.4% of the tracked sectors), at an average wage of $64,943. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 588,898 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: State GDP of $702.5B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $114,848 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $26,403, a 4.3x spread in the same economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Transportation Equipment Manufacturing concentrates at 3.50x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy.
• Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base across the state.
• Attraction whitespace: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.2x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 73.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.8% vacancy rate; potential redevelopment opportunity.
• Affordable rent tiers: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $42,352 can pay without cost burden (~$1,059/mo), and 46.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 22.6% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 63.3% of the population aged 18+ is in the labor force, reflecting a steady, available workforce statewide.

Michigan shows meaningful potential for transportation equipment manufacturing attraction, with a 3.50x concentration and 174,077 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.6% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

Cluster depth across transportation equipment manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, and furniture and related product manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.