Michigan City Income Tax: The 24 Cities and What They Charge

Michigan's state income tax is a flat 4.25% and, for most people, simple. The complication is local. Twenty-four Michigan cities levy their own income tax, on residents and on anyone who works inside the city limits, and in 22 of them the return goes to the city, on the city's forms, on the city's calendar.

The 24 cities

Every one of these levies a tax on income under Michigan's uniform city income tax ordinance:

• Albion
• Battle Creek
• Benton Harbor
• Big Rapids
• Detroit
• East Lansing
• Flint
• Grand Rapids
• Grayling
• Hamtramck
• Highland Park
• Hudson
• Ionia
• Jackson
• Lansing
• Lapeer
• Muskegon
• Muskegon Heights
• Pontiac
• Port Huron
• Portland
• Saginaw
• Springfield
• Walker

Source: Michigan Treasury, Which cities impose an income tax? (opens in new tab)

What they charge

Detroit from Treasury's 2026 Detroit withholding guide (opens in new tab); Saginaw from the city's income tax page (opens in new tab); the rest from Grand Rapids' comparison of Michigan cities (opens in new tab). Rates and exemption amounts are set by each city. Confirm on the city's own page before filing; comparison tables go stale.

Who has to file

• Residents of a taxing city owe the resident rate on their income, wherever it was earned.
• Nonresidents who work in the city owe the nonresident rate on wages for work performed inside the city. Live in Troy and commute to a Detroit office, and you file a Detroit nonresident return. Work from home part of the week and only the in-city days count, which is where the paperwork gets fiddly.
• Businesses and employers in a taxing city withhold the city tax from employees and file their own business return. Treasury processes Detroit's employer withholding, corporate, partnership and fiduciary returns.

Who processes the return

This is the part that surprises people. The Michigan Department of Treasury processes City of Detroit returns and has since the 2015 tax year. Starting January 1, 2027, it also takes over City of Flint returns, for the 2026 tax year onward. The other 22 cities administer their own tax: their forms, their filing, their support line. Source: Treasury, City Tax (opens in new tab).

Two things follow. First, the due date is the city's, not the state's: Saginaw's return is due April 30, or four months after a fiscal year end, and other cities set their own. Second, a mistake on a city return is sorted out with the city, so a preparer who does not file that city's return regularly is starting from zero.

Where it goes wrong

• Moving into or out of a taxing city mid-year and filing as a full-year resident, or not at all.
• Hybrid work. Nonresidents are taxed on in-city workdays. Counting them, and proving the count, is the whole job.
• Assuming the state date. Filing the city return with the state one on April 15 is fine; assuming a city deadline matches it is not.
• Assuming a reciprocal state covers the city. Michigan's agreements with Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin cover state tax on wages. The city ordinance is a separate question.

None of this is hard for someone who files a particular city's return every week. It is hard for software, and for a preparer three counties away. When you choose a CPA, ask which city returns they file.

Frequently asked questions

Informational only, not tax advice. Rates are as published by the sources linked above as of September 2026; each city sets and changes its own.