Michigan Paystub Generator

Reading a Michigan pay stub, line by line

A Michigan pay stub carries four involuntary deductions everywhere in the state — and a fifth line in 24 cities, the most local income taxes of any state outside Ohio and Pennsylvania. Here is what each line means in 2026:

MI State Income Tax ("MI SIT", "Michigan Withholding"). Michigan taxes wages at a flat 4.25% after a $5,900 personal exemption for each allowance claimed on Form MI-W4 (the 2026 amount from Treasury's Form 446 withholding guide; it was $5,800 in 2025). The formula is simply (wages − exemptions ÷ pay periods) × 4.25% — no brackets, no standard deduction. The one-year cut to 4.05% that a revenue trigger produced in 2023 did not repeat, so 4.25% is the rate for 2026.

City income tax ("Detroit tax", "City W/H", "GR tax"). Twenty-four Michigan cities levy an income tax under the 1964 City Income Tax Act. The standard rate is 1.0% for residents and 0.5% for nonresidents who work inside the city; four cities are allowed more — Detroit 2.4% / 1.2%, Highland Park 2.0% / 1.0%, Grand Rapids 1.5% / 0.75%, and Saginaw 1.5% / 0.75%. A Detroit resident's combined state-plus-city rate is 6.65% before federal tax starts. Nonresidents owe city tax only on work actually performed in the city — a Detroit employee who works 60% of days in the city is withheld on 60% of wages, vacation pay, and bonuses. Detroit allowed a $600 city exemption per allowance on its 2025 Form 5118 — the 2026 Form 5469 would not render for us, so confirm the current amount with the city before you rely on it. Treasury administers Detroit's tax (and Flint's from January 1, 2027); the other cities collect their own.

What you will NOT see: a county income tax (none in Michigan), state disability insurance, a paid-family-leave premium (Michigan has no program), or an unemployment deduction — the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity describes unemployment insurance as an employer tax, though it never says outright that nothing is withheld from employees.

Plus the federal lines on every US stub: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000).

Michigan paycheck facts — 2026

What you actually take home in Michigan (2026 estimates)

Estimated for a single filer taking the standard deduction, including federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and Michigan income tax at 4.25% after one $5,900 exemption — before any city tax:

Add the city line if you live or work in one of the 24 cities. At $60,000: a resident of a standard 1% city (Lansing, Flint, Jackson, Pontiac…) pays about $600 more; a Grand Rapids resident about $900; a Detroit resident about $1,426 (2.4% after the $600 exemption Detroit published for 2025 — the 2026 amount is unconfirmed), taking net pay to roughly $46,665. Nonresidents who commute into Detroit pay half that on in-city work days only.

Where the money goes at $60,000 (outside the cities): Michigan income tax $2,299 (3.8% of gross); federal income tax and FICA take the other 16%.

Methodology: 2026 federal brackets and $16,100 standard deduction (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), FICA per SSA, Michigan flat 4.25% after the 2026 $5,900 personal exemption (Michigan Treasury Form 446, rev. 02-26). City income tax excluded from the table; the Detroit example uses 2.4% after the $600 city exemption from the 2025 Form 5118, because the 2026 Form 5469 could not be read — treat the Detroit figures as approximate. Estimates only — your withholding depends on your W-4/MI-W4 allowances, credits, and pre-tax benefits.

What Michigan jobs pay (BLS, May 2025)

Michigan's median hourly wage across all occupations is $23.69 — about 3% under the national median of $24.51 — but a Michigan registered nurse's $94,300 median is essentially the national picture, and the state's 10th-percentile wage ($14.56) already sits above the $13.73 minimum.

Michigan's workforce in numbers

• 10.1 million residents, civilian labor force of 4.9 million, unemployment 4.9% (Census 2025 estimate; BLS, July 2026 preliminary)
• 815,013 self-employed (nonemployer) businesses (Census, 2023) — about one for every six members of the labor force earning without an employer pay stub
• 4.0 million people on employer payrolls at 229,564 establishments, earning $247 billion a year (Census County Business Patterns, 2023)
• Mean annual wage: $64,920; median household income $72,875 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; Census ACS 2020–2024)

Michigan pay rules — the answers people actually need

Final paycheck: as soon as the amount can be determined — the next regular payday in practice. The Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act (MCL 408.475) says an employee who quits must be paid all wages earned "as soon as the amount can with due diligence be determined," and an employee who is fired must be paid "immediately" subject to the same qualifier; the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity applies both as the regular payday for the period in which you left. Unused vacation or sick time is owed only if a written contract or policy says so (MCL 408.473). Wage complaints must be filed with LEO within 12 months.

Pay frequency: the statutory default is semimonthly — wages for the 1st–15th paid by the 1st of the next month, and wages for the 16th–end paid by the 15th (MCL 408.472). LEO lists weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly as permitted schedules; a weekly or biweekly payroll complies if the regular payday falls within 14 days of the end of the work period. The deadline that applies to a monthly payroll is one detail we could not confirm against the statute.

Is a pay stub required? Yes. MCL 408.479(2) requires a statement at the time of payment showing hours worked, gross wages paid, the pay period covered, and a separate itemization of deductions. Employers must also keep records of each employee's rate, hours per pay period, wages, and itemized deductions. Deductions beyond taxes need your written consent unless required by law or a collective bargaining agreement (MCL 408.477).

City tax and where you work. If you live outside a taxing city but work in one, the employer withholds the nonresident rate only on days worked inside the city — keep a work-location log if you split time, because refunds on remote-work days are claimed on the city return.

The 24 Michigan cities with an income tax (2026)

Michigan has no local minimum wages — the $13.73 state rate applies everywhere — but it does have more city income taxes than any state except Ohio and Pennsylvania. Residents pay on all income; nonresidents pay half the rate on work performed inside the city:

The full standard-rate list: Albion, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Big Rapids, East Lansing, Flint, Grayling, Hamtramck, Hudson, Ionia, Jackson, Lansing, Lapeer, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Pontiac, Port Huron, Portland, Springfield, and Walker. Ann Arbor, Warren, Sterling Heights, and the rest of the state have none.

Minimum wage: $13.73 took effect January 1, 2026 (the February 21 date belongs to the 2025 step), with the tipped rate at $5.49 when tips reach at least $8.24 an hour, minors at $11.67, and a $4.25 training wage for the first 90 days under age 20. The schedule reaches $15.00 on January 1, 2027 — a full-time raise of $2,642 gross.

How Michigan compares with its neighbors (take-home on $60,000, 2026 est.)

Outside the taxing cities, Michigan's $5,900 exemption and 4.25% rate leave a $60,000 earner about $525 better off than across the border in Illinois. Inside Detroit the picture flips: the 2.4% city tax makes a Detroit resident's combined bill the highest in the region. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Minnesota residents working in Michigan are covered by reciprocal agreements and pay only their home state's tax.

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