New grad RN jobs and nurse residency programs in Michigan

A quarter of Michigan RNs earn less than $39.46 an hour ($82,080 a year) and half earn more than $45.34. First-year offers tend to sit near the lower figure, since hospital pay scales usually rise with experience.

That puts Michigan 25th of the 50 states and DC for median RN pay.

$5.88 an hour separates the 25th percentile from the median here, close to the typical gap across the states.

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area employs 44,310 RNs, about 42% of the state's total.

When people search for new grad RN jobs in Michigan, the place they name most often is Detroit.

The Michigan Board of Nursing licenses RNs in Michigan.

Michigan is not in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so you need a Michigan license to work here whatever license you hold elsewhere. If you studied in another state, you can apply to the Michigan Board of Nursing for licensure by examination and take the NCLEX for Michigan directly, or pass in your school's state and apply here by endorsement afterward.

Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, next door, are compact states, which matters if you might live on one side of the line and work on the other.

Yes, with conditions. State law lets the board grant a nonrenewable temporary license to an applicant who has met every requirement except the exam, if you have never failed it. You practice under the supervision of a licensed RN; it is valid for 18 months but is voided automatically if you fail. Confirm with the board that it is issuing them before you count on one.

Source: Michigan Public Health Code, MCL 333.16181, read October 2026. The permit makes it legal; whether you can use it depends on the employer, since not every hospital starts graduate nurses before they are licensed. Ask the recruiter.

29 of the 50 states and DC allow something like this, each with its own limits. See every state's rule.

4,162 of the 4,844 first-time, U.S.-educated candidates who took the NCLEX-RN for Michigan in 2025 passed: 85.9%, 0.8 points below the national rate of 86.7%.

Against the 18 new-grad programs we track here, that is about 269 new test takers per program, well above the national figure of about 114. Expect more competition for each residency spot, and look at new-grad RN jobs outside residencies as well.

The exam is the same everywhere; the rate tells you about the graduates who tested here, not about your own chances. See pass rates in every state.

Among its neighboring states, Wisconsin pays RNs the most, a median of $95,530. Ohio has the most new-grad programs on our list (67).