Each year, ASE publishes Michigan’s most comprehensive compensation survey. The 2025 results are in, and they reveal a clear trend: wage growth is beginning to stabilize.
After several years of strong, often reactive, increases in base pay, our latest survey shows a more measured pace. Using a constant sample of organizations that participated in both 2024 and 2025, we found that actual wage movement rose by 3.2% this year. That’s down from the 4.3% increase reported in 2024.
While the rate of increase has slowed, it’s not a sign of stagnation. Instead, it marks a shift in employer mindset from across-the-board adjustments driven by urgency to more strategic and targeted compensation decisions.
Employers are increasingly evaluating where compensation dollars will have the greatest impact. They’re trying to pay more closely to performance and ensuring their overall total rewards strategies support both talent retention and pay equity – all while remaining competitive. It’s a smarter, more sustainable approach, especially in today’s labor market, which has shown signs of stabilization amid broader economic uncertainty.
Some job families continue to see healthy growth. In fact, engineering, human resources, and sales/marketing titles all posted average increases of 3.4%. Accounting and finance titles followed at 3.3%, and hourly production workers, who saw significant increases in prior years, experienced only a 3.0% rise this year. While slightly lower than past gains, this still reflects a continued investment in frontline job titles.
Our survey provides data for 575 positions and includes base pay percentiles (10th, 25th, median, 75th, and 90th) as well as average variable pay, which gives employers the information they need to benchmark titles accurately and make informed decisions that support competitiveness and fairness.
Participation in this year’s survey grew by more than 6%, with 437 organizations contributing data – representing over 106,000 incumbents across the state. Participation from the Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Holland regions surged by 80% with 92 west Michigan organizations participating, enhancing the geographic diversity of the data.
We added 16 new job titles this year to keep pace with evolving workforce demands and ensure our data remains as relevant and actionable as possible.
The full survey report is available in the ASE Survey Library for member participants and can be purchased by others through our request form. For those shaping compensation strategy in 2025, this data is a vital resource.
As always, I’m proud of the work ASE does to support Michigan employers with the insights and tools they need to lead their workforces effectively. Strategic compensation planning is just one piece of that, and this year’s data will allow employers to make competitive compensation decisions.