Michigan employers pay about 9% less per employee than the national average.
In 2025 the average Michigan private-sector employer paid $8,230 a year in total premium for an employee on single coverage and $23,800 for family coverage, against $9,025 and $26,281 nationally. Michigan employees, though, paid a bigger share of single coverage than employees did across the country.
Four numbers that set the Michigan baseline.
Averages per enrolled employee at private-sector employers of all sizes, 2025. Employee share is our calculation from the published averages.
Lower premiums, but employees pay more of single coverage.
Michigan’s average total premium runs 8.8% below the U.S. average for single coverage and 9.4% below for family coverage. The split is different. On single coverage the average Michigan employee pays 23.9% of the premium, against 20.1% nationally.
Single Coverage
Family Coverage
Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Insurance Component, 2025 state tables X.C through X.D.2. Employee share is our calculation.
The average hides a very wide range.
The middle 80% of Michigan employees on single coverage sit in a total premium range from $5,000 to $12,000 a year. On family coverage the range runs from $17,000 to $32,000. What employees pay toward family coverage varies even more.
Total Annual Premium
Employee Contribution, Family
At least one in ten Michigan employees on family coverage pays nothing toward the premium, and about one in ten pays more than $15,000. Source: AHRQ MEPS-IC 2025, tables X.C, X.D and X.D.1.
Employee-plus-one carries the heaviest employee share.
Employees on employee-plus-one coverage pay an average 31.5% of the premium, against 23.9% for single and 27.0% for family.
Michigan averages per enrolled employee, 2025. Source: AHRQ MEPS-IC tables X.C through X.E.2. Shares are ratios of published averages.
Three things the Michigan average tells you.
A Low Premium Is Not a Low Bill for Employees
Michigan’s average total premium for single coverage is $795 below the national figure, yet the average Michigan employee on single coverage pays $153 more toward it: $1,970 against $1,817.
Your Group Is Not the Average
On single coverage the 10th percentile premium is $5,000 and the 90th is $12,000, a spread of 2.4 times. Family coverage runs from $17,000 to $32,000. Plan design and the age of the workforce move a group a long way from the middle.
Contribution Is a Decision, Not a Market Price
Total family premiums at the middle 80% span roughly 1.9 times, but what employees pay toward family coverage runs from $0 to $15,000. How much of the premium an employer picks up is set by the employer.
Smaller employers shift more of the family premium to workers.
The state tables we used do not break Michigan out by employer size, so this view uses KFF’s 2025 national survey. Covered workers at firms with 10 to 199 workers pay an average $8,889 toward family coverage, against $6,227 at firms with 200 or more workers: 36% of the premium against 23%.
Source: KFF 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. The employer portion is our calculation. KFF and AHRQ are different surveys, so their U.S. averages differ.
Use the averages as a yardstick, not a target.
Put Your Numbers Against Michigan’s
Enter your own premiums and your employees’ share in our benchmark and see where each one sits.
Look at the Split, Not Just the Total
A renewal can look flat while the employee share creeps up. Ask for the premium by coverage tier and the employee share of each.
Check What the Filing Says
For groups under 50 employees, the state-approved 2027 average increase is 10.0%. For larger groups, your own claims drive the number.
What Michigan employers ask about group health costs.
How much does group health insurance cost per employee in Michigan?
In 2025 the average total premium for a Michigan private-sector employee was $8,230 a year for single coverage and $23,800 for family coverage, about 9% below the U.S. averages.
How much do Michigan employees pay toward the premium?
On average $1,970 a year for single coverage (23.9% of the premium) and $6,437 for family coverage (27.0%). For employee-plus-one coverage it is $5,251 (31.5%).
How does Michigan compare with the rest of the country?
Total premiums are lower. Single coverage averages $8,230 against $9,025 nationally. But Michigan employees pay a larger share of single coverage: 23.9% against 20.1%.
Is this what a renewal will look like?
No. These are averages across all employer sizes, plan types and funding methods. Your renewal depends on your plan, your workforce and, above 50 employees, your own claims. For small groups the state-approved 2027 average increase is 10.0%.
Where does this data come from?
The Michigan and U.S. figures are from the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Insurance Component (AHRQ), 2025 state tables. The employer-size figures are from KFF’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Employee shares and the employer portions by size are our calculations from published averages.
Why do the U.S. averages differ between sources?
They are different surveys with different definitions. AHRQ reports $9,025 for single coverage and KFF reports $9,325. We use AHRQ for the Michigan comparison so both sides come from the same survey.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program: cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
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