Michigan Paystub Generator

What Changed for Michigan Payroll in 2026

• Minimum wage rose to $13.73 an hour on January 1, 2026. The next step is $15.00 on January 1, 2027.
• Tipped wage at 40%: the tipped cash wage is $5.49 in 2026 and rises to 42% of minimum wage in 2027.
• Higher personal exemption: each MI-W4 exemption is worth $5,900 in 2026, which is $226.92 per biweekly check.
• Income tax rate held at 4.25%: Treasury confirmed in April 2026 that no rate cut was triggered for the 2026 tax year.
• Earned sick time for small employers: businesses with 10 or fewer employees began accrual on October 1, 2025, so 2026 is their first full year under the Earned Sick Time Act.

Michigan Income Tax Withholding With Form MI-W4

Michigan taxes income at a flat 4.25%. Withholding takes the exemptions claimed on Form MI-W4, divides them across the pay periods in the year and applies 4.25% to the wages that remain. The rules that trip people up:

• The federal W-4 cannot be used for Michigan. Without an MI-W4 on file, the employer withholds with zero exemptions.
• Bonuses and other supplemental pay are withheld at a straight 4.25% with no exemption adjustment.
• Michigan has reciprocal agreements with Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. A resident of one of those states who files an MI-W4 claiming the exemption has no Michigan line.
• The state publishes a withholding calculator on the Treasury withholding tax information page, which lists the rate and exemption for each year.

City Income Tax on a Michigan Pay Stub

Twenty-four Michigan cities levy an income tax. Employers located in or doing business in one of them must withhold it, usually at a lower rate for nonresidents who work in the city:

Detroit allows a $600 exemption ($23.08 per biweekly check) and uses its own certificate (Form DW-4). The other taxing cities include Lansing, East Lansing, Jackson, Pontiac, Battle Creek, Muskegon and Port Huron. Ann Arbor, Troy, Warren and most suburbs have no city income tax, so no local line appears. The city tax is a separate row on the stub, never part of the state line.

What Michigan Requires on Every Pay Statement

Under the Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act (Public Act 390 of 1978), employers must give a retainable pay statement at the time wages are paid showing:

• Hours worked
• Gross wages paid
• An itemization of each deduction
• The dates for which the wages are paid

Deductions are allowed only when required by law, set by a collective bargaining agreement or authorized in writing by the employee. Employers keep payroll records for three years. The LEO guide to the wage act covers the full rules. The labels payroll systems use for these lines are explained in the list of common pay stub abbreviations.

Sample Michigan Paystub Generator Output

Here is a preview from the generator for an Ann Arbor employee paid biweekly. The Michigan tax line and the net pay are highlighted.

Scenario: hourly employee of a machine shop at 2450 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, paid biweekly. Pay period Sep 14 to Sep 27, 2026, pay date Sep 29, 2026. $26.00 an hour for 80 hours, single, Form MI-W4 claiming zero exemptions. This is the 20th paycheck of the year.

With zero exemptions the state line is a straight 4.25% of $2,080.00: $88.40. One exemption would take $226.92 off first and lower it to $78.76. Ann Arbor has no city income tax, so there is no local line. If the same shop were in Detroit and the employee lived there, a Detroit line of $49.37 would appear (2.4% of $2,080.00 after the $23.08 exemption). The year-to-date column adds up all 20 checks.

Michigan Minimum Wage 2026: $13.73 and the Tipped Wage

For tipped staff, the stub should show cash wages and reported tips separately so it is clear the full $13.73 was reached. If tips fall short, the employer makes up the difference.

Earned Sick Time, Paydays and Final Paychecks in Michigan

• Earned sick time: employees accrue 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers can cap yearly use at 72 hours (40 hours at businesses with 10 or fewer employees). Paid sick time is wages, not a deduction.
• Pay frequency: wages must be paid on a regular schedule, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly.
• Final paycheck: due on the regular payday for the period, whether the employee quits or is fired.

Create Your Michigan Pay Stub in Three Steps

1. Enter the company and employee details and select Michigan as the work state.
2. Add hours, rate and pay frequency. Add the city tax as a deduction if the employee lives or works in a taxing city. To estimate take-home pay first, use the Michigan paycheck calculator.
3. Preview the stub, compare every line with payroll and download the PDF.

Responsible Use of Pay Stubs

A pay stub records wages that were actually earned and paid. Use it for real payroll, to replace a lost stub or to show a landlord your gross monthly income backed by deposits and a W-2. Contractors in Michigan should keep pay stubs for independent contractors, with no state or city tax withheld. Falsifying income documents is fraud under Michigan and federal law.