Battle Creek, MI

Across all occupations in the Battle Creek, MI metropolitan area, the median wage is $48,690 a year ($23.41 an hour) and the mean $60,400, May 2025. That median is −4% against the US median of $50,980 and −1% against Michigan's $49,270. BLS counts 54,600 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is family medicine physicians; the largest is miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators.

All occupations: Battle Creek, MI vs Michigan and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Battle Creek, MI area, Michigan and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Battle Creek, MI	Hourly	$14.51	$17.80	$23.41	$35.71	$48.68	$29.04	54,600
Battle Creek, MI	Annual	$30,170	$37,020	$48,690	$74,270	$101,250	$60,400	54,600
Michigan	Hourly	$14.56	$17.82	$23.69	$37.46	$53.20	$31.21	4,403,730
Michigan	Annual	$30,290	$37,070	$49,270	$77,910	$110,650	$64,920	4,403,730
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

224 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Michigan. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Battle Creek, MI

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$292,490	$140.62	50
2	Physicians, All Other	$238,660	$114.74	**
3	Chief Executives	$211,560	$101.71	60
4	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$152,500	$73.32	140
5	Dentists, General	$148,460	$71.38	40
6	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Michigan	$142,770	$68.64	110
7	Managers, All Other in Michigan	$141,130	$67.85	90
8	Marketing Managers	$140,680	$67.63	110
9	Pharmacists	$140,240	$67.43	110
10	Sales Managers in Michigan	$132,120	$63.52	170
11	Physician Assistants	$130,870	$62.92	70
12	Financial Managers in Michigan	$127,370	$61.24	180
13	Industrial Production Managers	$126,050	$60.60	230
13	Software Developers in Michigan	$126,050	$60.60	190
15	Nurse Practitioners	$124,630	$59.92	110
16	Human Resources Managers	$123,250	$59.26	70
17	Computer Occupations, All Other	$112,400	$54.04	300
18	Engineers, All Other	$112,260	$53.97	40
19	Medical and Health Services Managers	$105,710	$50.82	300
20	Lawyers in Michigan	$104,770	$50.37	70

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Battle Creek, MI

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Michigan	2,710	49.71	5.50	$49,100
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Michigan	1,500	27.54	1.11	$28,100
3	Registered Nurses in Michigan	1,480	27.02	1.24	$97,520
4	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Michigan	1,440	26.31	0.95	$36,130
5	Cashiers in Michigan	1,390	25.51	1.28	$30,280
6	Retail Salespersons in Michigan	1,130	20.63	0.82	$32,460
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Michigan	1,060	19.34	1.36	$35,960
8	Office Clerks, General in Michigan	990	18.15	1.14	$46,200
9	General and Operations Managers in Michigan	920	16.78	0.74	$97,950
9	Stockers and Order Fillers in Michigan	920	16.88	0.93	$35,130
11	Waiters and Waitresses in Michigan	750	13.65	0.93	$36,370
12	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Michigan	720	13.15	0.99	$56,160
13	Nursing Assistants in Michigan	690	12.59	1.35	$45,470
14	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Michigan	650	11.94	0.63	$40,760
15	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Michigan	630	11.47	2.65	$67,690
16	Customer Service Representatives in Michigan	620	11.34	0.68	$40,870
17	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Michigan	550	10.11	1.45	$88,320
18	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Michigan	530	9.64	1.23	$37,290
18	Industrial Machinery Mechanics	530	9.68	3.42	$71,130
18	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Michigan	530	9.76	0.99	$48,640

Most concentrated occupations in Battle Creek, MI

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Michigan	5.50	2,710	49.71	$49,100
2	Food Batchmakers	4.42	270	4.96	$75,370
3	Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	4.24	190	3.40	$46,600
4	Industrial Machinery Mechanics	3.42	530	9.68	$71,130
5	Industrial Engineers	2.98	380	7.00	$93,350
6	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	2.96	390	7.21	$49,910
7	Food Servers, Nonrestaurant	2.65	270	5.01	$36,710
7	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Michigan	2.65	630	11.47	$67,690
9	Physical Therapist Assistants	2.64	100	1.91	$66,310
10	Industrial Production Managers	2.60	230	4.12	$126,050

Occupation groups in Battle Creek, MI

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$105,730	$120,190	3,420	62.60	0.87
Computer and Mathematical	$99,090	$101,090	1,040	18.98	0.56
Architecture and Engineering	$91,020	$93,100	1,020	18.74	1.11
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$84,810	$97,170	3,830	70.20	1.11
Legal	$81,330	$99,130	120	2.12	0.25
Business and Financial Operations	$78,400	$82,750	3,080	56.38	0.83
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$74,310	$78,980	410	7.51	0.79
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$60,860	$62,780	2,570	46.99	1.20
Construction and Extraction	$60,740	$64,520	1,630	29.83	0.72
Educational Instruction and Library	$59,490	$58,860	2,470	45.27	0.77
Community and Social Service	$59,240	$61,890	1,130	20.69	1.21
Protective Service	$52,200	$56,300	920	16.81	0.69
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$51,140	$60,340	530	9.63	0.73
Production	$48,500	$50,930	7,340	134.35	2.44
Office and Administrative Support	$45,510	$48,010	5,690	104.28	0.91
Transportation and Material Moving	$42,940	$45,510	3,720	68.16	0.77
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$40,000	$41,920	170	3.09	1.10
Healthcare Support	$39,040	$41,780	3,020	55.38	1.09
Personal Care and Service	$37,960	$42,870	1,310	23.91	1.14
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$36,340	$37,480	1,870	34.33	1.17
Sales and Related	$35,700	$45,310	4,110	75.33	0.87
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$33,670	$36,190	5,210	95.46	1.08

Every occupation in Michigan, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 224 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Battle Creek, MI estimates (area 12980).

**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Battle Creek, MI area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.