Michigan's Labor Market News October 2019 edition (Vol. 75, No. 8) highlights STEM Jobs in Michigan. The map above is from the article (p. 15) and sorts states into three categories based on their share of total employment in STEM occupations. In 2018, Michigan employers reported 316,000 jobs in STEM occupations, coming to 7.3 percent of total state employment and ranking Michigan 7th nationally in terms of its share of employment in STEM.

Michigan’s professional services and manufacturing industries drive its STEM employment, evidenced by 80 percent of STEM jobs in Michigan in Engineering and
IT occupations. In fact, Michigan ranks first nationally in concentration of Mechanical engineers and Industrial engineers - in Michigan, nearly one in four STEM jobs were in these two detailed occupations. Michigan is unique in this regard as the national share was much lower at 6.4 percent. Michigan’s high concentration in these specific STEM job titles reflects the state’s dominance in Manufacturing, and specifically the auto industry.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers include a wide variety of job titles within fields such as engineering, health care, and the physical and social sciences. Preparing the workforce for current and future openings in these jobs is an important part of keeping Michigan’s economy competitive in a global labor market. Since 2013, STEM jobs in Michigan were up by 39,000 or 14 percent, well above the state’s 8 percent overall increase in employment. The median wage for STEM occupations in Michigan is $38.23, double the state’s non-STEM wage ($17.20). Since 2013, the median hourly wage for STEM workers increased by $3.70 or 10.7 percent, up slightly more than non-STEM jobs.

According to Michigan’s Long-term Employment Projections, STEM occupations are expected to grow by 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, almost double the 7 percent overall growth expected during the period. In fact, many STEM job titles are expected to grow much faster than average. For example, Information security analysts (think cybersecurity) are among the fastest growing jobs, expected to grow five times the average rate.  Statewide, STEM occupations are expected to generate nearly 30,000 annual openings through 2026. The occupations that are projected to have the most annual openings are Mechanical engineers, Industrial engineers, Software developers, and Computer user support specialists, together accounting for more than one in four annual openings in STEM careers.