Receptionists and information clerks in Michigan — a federal occupation, SOC 43-4171, that covers every industry, not only veterinary practices — earned a median annual wage of $37,470 in the May 2025 estimates.
That is 1% below the national median of $38,010, and 24th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
What marks Michigan out is the shape: the low end sits above the national figures while the upper middle sits below, and the middle band runs tighter than the national one.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$29,480
25th percentile
$34,140
75th percentile
$42,450
90th percentile
$48,280
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Michigan, SOC 43-4171 (Receptionists and Information Clerks). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
The Michigan median is below the national median by 1%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Receptionists and Information Clerks (SOC 43-4171) median for May 2025, it ranks 24th, and 12th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Michigan crosses the national line between the 25th percentile and the median.
The 10th percentile, $29,480, is 3% above the national $28,760, and the 25th, $34,140, is 1% above the national $33,960.
The median, $37,470, sits 1% below the national $38,010, and the shortfall widens to 6% at the 75th percentile — $42,450 against $45,130, a $2,680 gap, the widest anywhere in the Michigan distribution — before easing to 3% at the 90th, $48,280 against $49,950.
Someone benchmarking an offer for this all-industry occupation would find the Michigan floor slightly generous and the upper middle short.
Half of the Michigan workers counted earned between $34,140 and $42,450, a band $8,310 wide — tighter than the national band, $33,960 to $45,130, which is $11,170 wide.
The full 10th-to-90th span is narrower too, $18,800 against $21,190 nationally.
The narrowing runs through the lower three stretches — $4,660 from the 10th to the 25th percentile against $5,200 nationally, $3,330 from the 25th to the median against $4,050, and $4,980 from the median to the 75th against $7,120, the largest narrowing of the four — while the top stretch runs the other way, $5,830 against $4,820.
The median sits $3,330 above the 25th percentile and $4,980 below the 75th, nearer the bottom of its band, much as the national median does.
OEWS does not publish causes, and this row counts every industry, so the shape cannot be read as anything about veterinary employers.
The Michigan hourly median is $18.02, against $18.27 nationally — $0.25 less, the same 1% gap as the annual median.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so it is the figure to hold an hourly posting against.
Before comparing a posted rate with the annual percentiles, ask how many hours a week the role is scheduled.
BLS estimates 25,230 receptionists and information clerks were employed in Michigan, 12th among the 51 jurisdictions.
That is a count across every industry — hotels, offices, clinics and every other employer — so it says nothing about how many work in veterinary settings, and it is a headcount of people in jobs, not a count of openings.
In the same release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Michigan have a median of $49,710 — $12,240, or 33%, more than the all-industry receptionist median on this page.
Hourly, the technician median is $23.90 against $18.02.
That comparison sets a veterinary occupation against an all-industry one, so it is context for someone weighing a move into technician work, not a measure of what a veterinary front desk pays.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in Michigan have a median of $49,710 ($23.90/hr) — $12,240 above the receptionists and information clerks median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in Michigan →
For receptionists and information clerks across all industries in Michigan, the May 2025 BLS median annual wage is $37,470, or $18.02 an hour.
No federal wage series isolates veterinary receptionists, so this figure is not veterinary-specific.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,010, so Michigan sits 1% below it.
The Michigan 90th percentile is $48,280: one in ten receptionists and information clerks counted across all industries earned more.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,950, so Michigan is $1,670, or 3%, lower.
It is an all-industry figure, so it is not a ceiling for veterinary front-desk pay specifically.
The middle half of Michigan's receptionists and information clerks earned between $34,140 and $42,450.
That band is tighter than the national one, $33,960 to $45,130: the Michigan 25th percentile is 1% above the national figure, while the 75th is 6% below — the widest gap in the Michigan distribution.
These are all-industry figures covering every employer.
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in Michigan have a median of $49,710, which is $12,240 above the $37,470 median for receptionists and information clerks across all industries.
The technician median is 1.3 times the receptionist figure.
The two rows describe different occupations, and only one of them is veterinary-specific, so treat the gap as context for a career decision rather than a promised raise.
BLS estimates 25,230 receptionists and information clerks were employed in Michigan across all industries, 12th among the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The estimate does not say how many of them work in veterinary settings — BLS publishes no state figure for that.
It is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of vacancies.
Sources
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 43-4171, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-24.