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Home / General Contractors / Michigan

How to become a general contractor in Michigan

Most general contractors in Michigan start in an apprenticeship or a helper job and learn on the job. The contractor license comes later, if you run your own business.

32registered apprenticeship programs$37.59median an hour in Michigan

Pick your way in

Apprenticeship

Earn while you learn

A program hires you, pays you on the job and runs your classes.

Pay
From day one
In MI
32 registered programs
Find a program near you
Trade school

Classroom first

Learn the basics, then find work to log your hours.

Pay
You pay tuition
In MI
17 schools with programs
Compare 17 schools
Helper

Start on a crew

Get hired as a helper by a licensed general contractor and log hours on the job.

Pay
Paid on the job
Start
No experience needed
How to get started

The license steps

  1. Get hired or start training

    Join a registered apprenticeship, take a trade school program, or work as a helper for a licensed contractor.

    Compare the ways in
  2. Work as a general contractor

    Median pay in Michigan is $37.59 an hour.

    General Contractor pay in Michigan
  3. Run your own shop

    No years of experience: 60 hours of approved prelicensure courses (at least 6 hours in each of 7 areas: business/estimating, design and building science, contracts and risk, marketing and sales, project management, Michigan residential code, MIOSHA safety), age 18. Veterans can substitute documented military experience.

    Issued by
    LARA Bureau of Construction Codes - Residential Builders and Maintenance & Alteration Contractors
    Michigan contractor license
Pay once you're working

$78,180

a year is the median for general contractors in Michigan ($37.59 an hour, May 2025).3

Pay by city and percentile
  1. Muskegon–Norton Shores$40.85
  2. Ann Arbor$39.42
  3. Detroit–Warren$38.76
  4. Midland$38.17
  5. Lansing–East Lansing$37.70
Michigan median $37.59 an hour

Questions

Do you need a license to work on your own as a general contractor in Michigan?

Yes. Michigan licenses general contractors through the LARA Bureau of Construction Codes.1

Are general contractors in demand in Michigan?

Projections Central expects about 1,370 general contractor openings a year in Michigan through 2034, counting new jobs and people leaving the trade.2

Next step

Find an apprenticeship near you

32 registered programs in Michigan. Enter your ZIP to see the closest ones and what they ask for.

Find a program

More for general contractors in Michigan

Sources

  1. LARA Bureau of Construction Codes - Residential Builders and Maintenance & Alteration Contractors contractor licensing (legislature.mi.gov)
  2. Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2024-2034 (projectionscentral.org, 2024-2034)
  3. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Michigan, May 2025 (bls.gov, May 2025)