Employment rose in 4 of the 10 largest counties in Michigan from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Michigan employment increased 0.3 percent over the year to 4,357,500 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that Saginaw County (+1.4 percent) had the largest over-the-year increase in employment. (See chart 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Michigan, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Saginaw	1.4
Genesee	0.9
Macomb	0.3
Wayne	0.3
Kalamazoo	-0.2
Kent	-0.5
Ottawa	-0.5
Washtenaw	-1.2
Oakland	-1.7
Ingham	-2.2

Wayne County (718,100) had the highest employment level in Michigan in March 2026. Together, the 10 largest counties accounted for 68.7 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 376 largest counties comprise 73.5 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2025.)

Average weekly wage gains in 6 of the 10 large counties in Michigan were below the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Macomb had the largest gain (+6.1 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other nine large Michigan counties ranged from 5.7 percent to 1.3 percent.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Michigan, first quarter 2026

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Macomb	6.1
Wayne	5.7
Washtenaw	4.5
Genesee	3.9
Kent	3.7
Oakland	3.7
Saginaw	2.9
Ottawa	2.8
Ingham	1.7
Kalamazoo	1.3

Wayne ($1,684) had a weekly wage above the national average of $1,654. Average weekly wages among the other nine large counties ranged from $1,640 in Oakland to $1,146 in Genesee.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 3.9 percent over the year to $1,445. Michigan ranked 24th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 22nd in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 73 smaller counties in Michigan, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all of the smaller counties were below the national average. Calhoun reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,495) among small counties. Keweenaw reported the lowest average weekly wage ($693) in the state.

Among all 83 Michigan counties, 15 reported average weekly wages less than $900, 17 had wages from $900 to $999, 19 had wages from $1,000 to $1,099, 15 had wages from $1,100 to $1,199, and 17 had average weekly wages of $1,200 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

QCEW data for all states have been included in this release in table 3.

Nationwide coverage of the largest counties is published in the County Employment and Wages news release. Additional information about quarterly employment and wages data is available in the news release Technical Note and from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

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The County Employment and Wages release for the second quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 2, 2026.