$2,100–$4,000/wk — Michigan Medicine Top-5 US, Corewell Health, Henry Ford, Helen DeVos NICU
Top 5
Michigan Medicine US News
NLC
Compact Member State
4.25%
Flat State Income Tax
$4,000
UP Crisis Pay Max/wk
Michigan charges a flat 4.25% state income tax on all wages — no marginal brackets, no phase-outs, no surcharges. For travel nurses, this predictability simplifies net pay calculations. There are no county income taxes in Michigan (unlike Indiana, where some counties add local income tax on top of the state rate). The key strategy: maximize your tax-free stipend (housing, meals, incidentals) under IRS guidance by maintaining a valid tax home, and minimize your taxable hourly base. A well-structured Michigan package from CatSol keeps taxable exposure low while delivering competitive weekly gross.
| State | Rate |
|---|---|
| Tennessee | 0% |
| Indiana | 3.05% |
| Ohio | 3.5% |
| ★Michigan | 4.25% (flat) |
| Wisconsin | 7.65% |
| Minnesota | 9.85% |
| California | 13.3% |
On a $2,500/wk package with $1,100 taxable weekly base:
Stipend strategy: Travel nurse housing, meals, and incidental stipends are tax-free under IRS guidance when you maintain a valid tax home. The taxable base above is only the hourly wage portion. CatSol structures every Michigan package to maximize tax-free stipend within IRS guidelines.
Michigan has no county or city income tax. Detroit and other Michigan cities do not add local income surcharges on nonresident W-2 wages for travel nurses working on short-term contracts in most circumstances. CatSol provides facility-specific net pay estimates for every Michigan assignment at no charge.
Michigan is a full Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) member state. Travel nurses who hold a multistate compact license issued from their home state can practice in Michigan immediately — no separate Michigan RN license application, no processing fee, and no waiting period. You begin your Michigan Medicine, Corewell Health, Henry Ford, or Spectrum Health assignment the moment facility credentialing is complete.
The Michigan Board of Nursing recognizes NLC multistate privilege across all clinical settings including acute care, ICU, NICU, L&D, and outpatient. For travel nurses without a compact license, Michigan endorsement typically takes 4–6 weeks. CatSol tracks your license status and flags processing time for every Michigan assignment.
CatSol verifies compact status and coordinates Michigan license endorsement at no charge to candidates.
Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health) in Ann Arbor ranks top 5 nationally in US News. The 1,000+ bed academic medical center houses MICU, CVICU, Neuro ICU, heart and lung transplant ICU, complex oncology nursing, high-risk L&D, and the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Level IV NICU. Academic magnet designation drives the highest traveler demand in Michigan.
Michigan charges a flat 4.25% state income tax on all wages — no brackets. Compared to Wisconsin (7.65%), Minnesota (9.85%), and California (13.3%), Michigan delivers significantly higher take-home on the same gross package. Compared to Indiana (3.05%) and Ohio (3.5%), Michigan is modestly higher but offset by stronger base pay at flagship systems like Michigan Medicine and Corewell Health.
Michigan is a full Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) member state. Travel nurses with a multistate compact license practice in Michigan immediately — no separate Michigan license required, no waiting period. Non-compact nurses must complete Michigan Board of Nursing endorsement, which typically takes 4–6 weeks. NLC compact status lets you begin Michigan Medicine, Corewell, or Henry Ford facility credentialing on day one.
The Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan is one of the most geographically isolated healthcare shortage areas in the Midwest. Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and surrounding UP communities rely on Critical Access Hospitals facing severe permanent nursing shortages. Crisis pay premiums of $2,500–$4,000/week are sustained and structural — not seasonal surges. UP assignments attract travelers seeking wilderness lifestyle alongside the highest Michigan pay.
Metro Detroit anchors Michigan's largest travel nursing market. Corewell Health East (formerly Beaumont) operates 8 hospitals across Royal Oak, Troy, and Grosse Pointe with busy trauma ICU, cardiac ICU, and L&D. Henry Ford Health in Detroit is a 900-bed Level I trauma academic flagship with high-acuity cardiac, oncology, and MICU. Inner-city safety-net demand creates persistent traveler need.
Flint, Michigan saw sustained federal and state healthcare investment following the 2014–2015 water crisis. McLaren Flint and Hurley Medical Center (Level I trauma) both benefit from expanded funding and elevated demand for critical care, pediatric, nephrology, and community health nursing. Flint-area travel assignments combine competitive pay with a meaningful public health mission.
Ann Arbor, MI
Specialties: MICU, CVICU, Neuro ICU, Heart/Lung Transplant ICU, Complex Oncology, High-Risk L&D, C.S. Mott Level IV NICU
Notes: US News top-5 nationally, 1,000+ beds. Academic magnet. Centralized credentialing: 4–6 weeks. RNC-NIC preferred for NICU. Heart and lung transplant center.
$2,100–$3,000/wk
Apply NowRoyal Oak / Troy / Grosse Pointe, MI
Specialties: Trauma ICU, Cardiac ICU, L&D, OR, Med-Surg, Tele, ER
Notes: 8-hospital Detroit metro system. Highest-volume suburban Detroit market. Corewell credentialing: 3–5 weeks. Strong tele and cardiac demand across all campuses.
$2,000–$2,800/wk
Apply NowDetroit, MI
Specialties: MICU, CVICU, Cardiac ICU, Oncology, ER, OR, Med-Surg
Notes: 900-bed academic flagship. Inner-city safety-net demand. Henry Ford system credentialing: 3–5 weeks. Detroit Medical Center co-anchor of metro Level I trauma market.
$1,900–$2,700/wk
Apply NowGrand Rapids, MI
Specialties: Level IV NICU (Helen DeVos), Cardiac, OR, L&D, Pediatric ICU, ER
Notes: Helen DeVos Children's NICU is Level IV — highest AAP designation in west Michigan. Pediatric cardiac surgery access. RNC-NIC preferred. Level I trauma for Grand Rapids metro.
$2,400–$3,200/wk (NICU) | $2,000–$2,700/wk (general)
Apply NowDetroit, MI
Specialties: Level IV NICU, Pediatric ICU, MICU (Sinai-Grace), Trauma ICU, ER
Notes: 8-hospital Detroit system. Children's Hospital of Michigan Level IV NICU and Sinai-Grace Level I trauma. High acuity and persistent traveler demand. Credentialing: 3–5 weeks.
$2,000–$2,800/wk
Apply Now| Market | Facility Level | Weekly Pay Range |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor (Top-5 US Academic) | Level I Trauma / Academic | $2,100–$3,000/wk |
| Helen DeVos Children's Grand Rapids (Level IV NICU) | Level IV NICU / Pediatric | $2,400–$3,200/wk |
| Corewell Health East — Detroit Metro (Level II) | Level II Trauma / Suburban | $2,000–$2,800/wk |
| Henry Ford Health Detroit (Level I Trauma) | Level I Trauma / Academic | $1,900–$2,700/wk |
| DMC / Children's Hospital of Michigan Detroit | Level IV NICU / Level I Trauma | $2,000–$2,800/wk |
| Hurley Medical Center Flint (Level I Trauma) | Level I Trauma / Safety Net | $2,000–$2,700/wk |
| Upper Peninsula — Marquette / Sault Ste. Marie Crisis | Rural CAH / Critical Shortage | $2,500–$4,000/wk |
Pay ranges are all-in weekly package estimates (wages + tax-free stipends) for 36-hour contracts. Actual packages vary by specialty, shift, and facility. Michigan 4.25% flat state income tax applies to the taxable wage portion only. Data: April 2026.
High Demand — Limited Public Listings
Michigan is experiencing active travel nurse shortages at Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor, Henry Ford Detroit, and across the Upper Peninsula. Many positions are filled through direct recruiter outreach before appearing in public listings. Contact CatSol to access unpublished Michigan openings.
Get Unpublished Michigan JobsMichigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health) in Ann Arbor ranks top 5 in the US News national hospital rankings — in the same tier as Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The 1,000+ bed flagship campus is Michigan's premier Level I trauma center and the state's most complex clinical environment, anchoring the Wolverine State's highest-acuity travel nursing assignments. Michigan Medicine serves as the principal teaching hospital for the University of Michigan Medical School, creating a research-intensive academic environment where travel nurses work alongside subspecialty fellows, residents, and leading national academic attendings across every major service line.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at Michigan Medicine operates a Level IV NICU — the highest AAP acuity designation. Mott provides the full spectrum of neonatal subspecialty care including neonatal cardiac surgery, ECMO, extreme prematurity (22–24 weeks gestational age), and neonatal neurocritical care. Michigan Medicine also operates one of the highest-volume heart and lung transplant programs in the United States, with dedicated CVICU teams managing transplant patients, LVAD bridges, and complex heart failure. RNC-NIC certification is strongly preferred for NICU travel assignments at Michigan Medicine.
Metro Detroit anchors Michigan's largest travel nursing market, combining Corewell Health East (formerly Beaumont Health) and Henry Ford Health as the two dominant systems across Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Together these systems serve a dense, diverse suburban and urban population across 8+ hospitals — creating persistent travel nurse demand for ICU, L&D, cardiac, and Med-Surg specialties across the Detroit tri-county area.
Corewell Health East operates eight hospital campuses including Royal Oak, Troy, Grosse Pointe, and Dearborn. The Royal Oak flagship is the largest and busiest, with a busy trauma ICU, cardiac surgery program, high-volume L&D, and Level III NICU. Suburban Detroit's strong commercial payer mix supports competitive travel nurse packages at Corewell East campuses.
Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit is a 900-bed academic Level I trauma center and inner-city safety-net institution. Henry Ford serves a high-acuity, high-uninsured patient population in Detroit proper, driving sustained demand for ICU, cardiac, oncology, and emergency nursing. The Motor City's automotive legacy also creates occupational health nursing demand across Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county manufacturing corridors — a niche specialty for experienced industrial and occupational health travel nurses.
Detroit Metro Pay: $1,900–$2,800/wk
Corewell Health East and Henry Ford Health assignments pay $2,000–$2,800/week for ICU, L&D, and cardiac specialties. Henry Ford starts at $1,900/week for Med-Surg and Tele. Michigan's 4.25% flat tax delivers higher take-home than comparable Wisconsin, Minnesota, or California assignments.
Compare: ICU Jobs MinnesotaYes. Michigan is a full member of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). Travel nurses who hold a multistate compact license from their home state can practice in Michigan immediately — no separate Michigan RN license application is required and no waiting period applies. This means you can accept a contract at Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor, Corewell Health Detroit metro, Henry Ford Health, or any Michigan facility and begin facility credentialing without stacking state licensing time on top. If your license is a single-state non-compact license, you must apply for Michigan RN endorsement through the Michigan Board of Nursing, which typically takes 4–6 weeks to process. CatSol tracks your license status and flags endorsement timelines for every Michigan assignment.
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids pays the highest specialty rates in Michigan at $2,400–$3,200/week for Level IV NICU and pediatric ICU specialties. Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health) in Ann Arbor pays $2,100–$3,000/week for ICU, CVICU, heart/lung transplant ICU, NICU, and complex oncology nursing — supported by its top-5 US News national ranking and academic magnet designation. Corewell Health East (formerly Beaumont) in Detroit metro pays $2,000–$2,800/week for trauma ICU, cardiac ICU, and L&D. Henry Ford Health in Detroit pays $1,900–$2,700/week. The highest absolute pay in Michigan — $2,500–$4,000/week — comes from Upper Peninsula crisis shortage facilities in Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie facing severe structural permanent nursing deficits.
The highest-demand travel nursing specialties in Michigan in 2026 are: ICU and Critical Care (Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor, Henry Ford Detroit, Corewell Health East Detroit metro — multiple Level I and II trauma systems with sustained high-acuity census), Level IV NICU (C.S. Mott Children's at Michigan Medicine and Helen DeVos at Corewell Health West — both highest AAP designation), L&D and high-risk OB (Corewell Health East suburban Detroit is one of the highest-volume L&D markets in the Midwest), ER and Emergency (Henry Ford Detroit Level I trauma, Sinai-Grace DMC Level I trauma, UP rural ER crisis), OR and Surgical (cardiac surgery and transplant at Michigan Medicine, robotic and orthopedic at Corewell Health), Psych and Mental Health (statewide behavioral health shortage across all Michigan regions), and Med-Surg across rural Upper Peninsula Critical Access Hospitals.
Michigan charges a flat 4.25% state income tax on all wages — no marginal brackets, no phase-outs. On a $2,500/week package with a $1,100 taxable weekly base, Michigan state tax costs approximately $47/week. Compare that to Wisconsin (7.65%) at approximately $84/week, Minnesota (9.85%) at approximately $108/week, and California (13.3%) at approximately $146/week. Indiana (3.05%) and Ohio (3.5%) are lower than Michigan, but Michigan assignments at flagship systems like Michigan Medicine and Corewell Health routinely pay $100–$200/week more gross than comparable Indiana or Ohio assignments — more than offsetting the tax difference. The key stipend strategy: since travel nurse housing and meal stipends are tax-free under IRS guidance when you maintain a valid tax home, a well-structured Michigan package minimizes taxable exposure while maximizing take-home. CatSol provides facility-specific net pay estimates for every Michigan assignment.
The Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan is geographically isolated from the Lower Peninsula by the Mackinac Bridge — a bridge toll and 300-mile driving corridor that limits commuter travel from the largest Michigan population centers. The UP's largest cities (Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, Iron Mountain, Escanaba) serve vast rural catchment areas with sparse permanent nursing workforce pipelines. UP hospitals including UP Health System-Marquette (a Level II trauma center), War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, and multiple Critical Access Hospitals face chronic RN vacancy rates that cannot be filled from local graduate output. This structural deficit drives crisis pay premiums of $2,500–$4,000/week — among the highest in the Midwest. UP assignments attract nurses who combine financial goals with access to world-class outdoor recreation: Lake Superior shoreline, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and winter snowmobiling and skiing.
Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health) in Ann Arbor ranks top 5 in the US News national hospital rankings — placing it in the same tier as Mayo Clinic Rochester, Cleveland Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital. The 1,000+ bed flagship campus operates one of the most complex clinical environments in the United States: Level I trauma, heart and lung transplant ICU (one of the highest-volume transplant programs in the country), MICU, CVICU, Neuro ICU, complex oncology nursing (bone marrow transplant, CAR-T), high-risk L&D with maternal-fetal medicine subspecialists, and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Level IV NICU with neonatal cardiac surgery and ECMO. For travel nurses, Michigan Medicine assignments build a resume credential that is recognized nationally and opens doors at other top academic centers. Credentialing takes 4–6 weeks due to thoroughness of the academic vetting process. RNC-NIC certification is strongly preferred for NICU assignments.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) is geographically separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac. The 5-mile Mackinac Bridge, while iconic, creates a hard barrier for commuter workforce access from the state's population centers in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. The UP's total population of approximately 300,000 spread across 16,452 square miles — an area larger than several US states — cannot supply permanent nursing staff at the volumes its hospitals require.
UP Health System-Marquette is the UP's largest hospital and a Level II trauma center serving the entire eastern Upper Peninsula. War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie serves the northernmost Michigan communities near the US-Canada border. Iron Mountain, Escanaba, and other UP communities are served by small community and Critical Access Hospitals with persistent RN vacancy rates that have not been filled from local graduate pipeline output in over a decade.
Travel nurses who accept UP assignments benefit from crisis pay premiums of $2,500–$4,000/week — among the highest in the Midwest — combined with access to world-class outdoor recreation. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior shoreline, the Keweenaw Peninsula copper country, and Tahquamenon Falls State Park make the UP uniquely attractive for nurses who combine financial and lifestyle goals. UP winters are significant — heavy snowfall is common from November through April — making it an especially popular destination for nurses who enjoy winter sports.
NLC Compact. Michigan Medicine top-5 US nationally, Corewell Health Detroit metro, Henry Ford Level I trauma, Helen DeVos Level IV NICU Grand Rapids, Upper Peninsula crisis pay $2,500–$4,000/wk. CatSol places travel nurses across all of Michigan.
No recruiter pressure. Transparent pay packages. CatSol places travel nurses in Michigan and 45+ states.