Best Sociologist programs in Michigan, ranked by enrollment
Study human society and social behavior by examining the groups and social institutions that people form, as well as various social, religious, political, and business organizations.
25 schools in Michigan run programs that feed this job, graduating 545 people a year. The job pays a median of $88,040 in Michigan across about 90 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Michigan that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in Michigan that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Michigan (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Michigan page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sociology, Generalmain feeder CIP 45.1101In Michigan → | 413 | 75.8% | 23 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Criminologymain feeder CIP 45.0401In Michigan → | 104 | 19.1% | 3 | $37,366 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 45.1201In Michigan → | 17 | 3.1% | 3 | $40,294 | $21,775 |
| 4 | Sociology and Anthropologymain feeder CIP 45.1301In Michigan → | 7 | 1.3% | 3 | $28,378 | $24,924 |
| 5 | Applied/Public Sociologymain feeder CIP 45.1102In Michigan → | 2 | 0.4% | 1 | $34,099 | $25,000 |
| 6 | CIP 45.0102In Michigan → | 2 | 0.4% | 1 | $35,590 | $24,095 |
Top 25 schools in Michigan
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 25 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 129 | Sociology, General | $33,832 | 93% | — | 16% |
| 2 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Sociology, General | $35,055 | 81% | — | 85% |
| 3 | Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 63 | Criminology | $36,891 | 46% | — | 80% |
| 4 | University of Michigan - Dearborn Dearborn, MI Public · 3 feeder programs | 61 | Criminology | — | 58% | — | 56% |
| 5 | Wayne State University Detroit, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Sociology, General | $31,381 | 58% | — | 81% |
| 6 | Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Sociology, General | $35,399 | 58% | — | 85% |
| 7 | Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Sociology, General | $32,132 | 67% | — | 83% |
| 8 | Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Sociology, General | $20,126 | 58% | — | 88% |
| 9 | Hope College Holland, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Sociology, General | $29,181 | 80% | $21,746 | 79% |
| 10 | Albion College Albion, MI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Sociology, General | — | 62% | $16,537 | 81% |
| 11 | Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Sociology, General | — | 48% | — | 72% |
| 12 | Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Sociology, General | $28,785 | 59% | — | 90% |
| 13 | Lansing Community College Lansing, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Sociology, General | — | 25% | — | — |
| 14 | Alpena Community College Alpena, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Sociology, General | — | 52% | — | — |
| 15 | Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Sociology, General | — | 52% | — | 84% |
| 16 | Lake Michigan College Benton Harbor, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Sociology, General | — | 22% | — | — |
| 17 | Alma College Alma, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Sociology, General | — | 63% | $22,790 | 57% |
| 18 | Calvin University Grand Rapids, MI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 3 | Criminology | — | 74% | $22,391 | 71% |
| 19 | The University of Olivet Olivet, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Sociology and Anthropology | — | 35% | $21,946 | 83% |
| 20 | Aquinas College Grand Rapids, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Sociology, General | — | 65% | $16,718 | 90% |
| 21 | Hillsdale College Hillsdale, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Sociology, General | — | 90% | — | 21% |
| 22 | Madonna University Livonia, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Sociology, General | — | 60% | $16,904 | 63% |
| 23 | Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Applied/Public Sociology | — | 68% | — | 92% |
| 24 | University of Michigan - Flint Flint, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Sociology, General | $41,460 | 40% | — | 70% |
| 25 | Henry Ford College Dearborn, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Sociology, General | — | 17% | — | — |
All 25 schools in Michigan
Every school in Michigan with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor | Public | 129 | 1 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing | Public | 110 | 2 |
| Eastern Michigan University | Ypsilanti | Public | 63 | 2 |
| University of Michigan - Dearborn | Dearborn | Public | 61 | 3 |
| Wayne State University | Detroit | Public | 54 | 2 |
| Western Michigan University | Kalamazoo | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Grand Valley State University | Allendale | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Oakland University | Rochester Hills | Public | 16 | 2 |
| Hope College | Holland | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 1 |
| Albion College | Albion | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 2 |
| Saginaw Valley State University | University Center | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Central Michigan University | Mount Pleasant | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Lansing Community College | Lansing | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Alpena Community College | Alpena | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Northern Michigan University | Marquette | Public | 5 | 1 |
What sociologists earn in Michigan
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $106,030. Michigan pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Michigan employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Michigan
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Sociologists page.
How to become a Sociologist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Michigan
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 13 majors mapped to Sociologists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 45.0102Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods
- 45.0103Survey Research/Methodology
- 45.0401Criminology
- 45.0501Demography and Population Studies
- 45.0502Applied Demography(no graduates reported)
- 45.0599Demography, Other(no graduates reported)
- 45.1101Sociology, General
- 45.1102Applied/Public Sociology
- 45.1103Rural Sociology
- 45.1199Sociology, Other
- 45.1201Urban Studies/Affairs
- 45.1301Sociology and Anthropology
- 51.3204Medical/Health Humanities
Common questions
Answers for people weighing sociologists programs in Michigan.
What degree do you need to become a Sociologist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sociology, General, which awarded 413 degrees in Michigan in 2024-25, 75.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Sociologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sociology, Criminology, Urban Studies/Affairs, Sociology and Anthropology, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 545 people a year in Michigan.
How much do sociologists earn in Michigan?+
The median is $88,040 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.0% below the U.S. median of $106,030. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for sociologists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Michigan?+
25 institutions in Michigan reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do sociologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Demographer, Sociologist, Social Scientist, Medical Sociologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3041.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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