Michigan sales tax, and who sets it

Banded sandstone cliffs dropping into clear turquoise water.

Tax year 2026

Set by the state

6%

Set locally

0%

statewide average

Combined

6%

Local share

0%

of what you pay

Work out the tax on a purchase in Michigan

Add the tax on

6% effective
$
Price before tax
$100.00
Michigan, Statewide average
Sales tax
$6.00
at 6%
Total
$106.00
what you actually hand over

The general rate applies here: 6%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.

How Michigan's sales tax is put together

  • Michigan keeps this simple. One rate, about 6%, everywhere. No county add-ons, no city surcharges, nothing extra for shopping in the wrong postcode. That is unusual — in most of the country the rate on your receipt depends on where you were standing.
  • No sales tax on groceries in Michigan. Unprepared food is exempt outright, so what you save depends on how much of your shopping is raw ingredients rather than ready meals. That boundary is where the money actually is, and it catches people out constantly at the deli counter.
  • Clothing is taxed at the ordinary rate in Michigan — $60 on a thousand dollars of it. That is the usual arrangement nationally, though a small group of states exempt apparel entirely. Prescription medicine, by contrast, is exempt here, as it is almost everywhere.
  • A single about 6% rate applies throughout Michigan; no local jurisdiction may levy a general sales tax on top of it. The practical consequence is that the state rate and the combined rate are identical at every address, so the rate quoted in a price comparison is the rate actually charged. Most states cannot make that claim, and the gap between quoted and charged is where a good deal of cross-state price confusion originates.
  • Grocery purchases are exempt from sales tax in Michigan. Because the exemption is complete rather than reduced, the practical question for a shopper is classification rather than rate: prepared and heated foods generally fall outside the exemption and are taxed at the full combined rate. States drawing that boundary differently produce noticeably different effective rates on identical shopping baskets, which is why a grocery exemption is a weaker predictor of household sales tax burden than it first appears.
  • Michigan applies its full combined rate to clothing, adding $60 to a thousand dollars of apparel. This is the majority treatment; a small group of states exempts clothing outright, and those exemptions are a larger source of variation in real household burden than the rate differences that dominate published comparisons. Prescription drugs are exempt in Michigan, consistent with essentially every sales-taxing state.

Sales tax on this purchase

A $75,000 salary

Buying
$106at the register
Tax added$6.00
Rate appliedStatewide average6%

Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.

Rates across this state

A $75,000 salary

6% – 6%across the state
Counties in this state83
Different rates among them1
Lowest county rate6%
Highest county rate6%

Most counties here share a rate with many others. The county line rarely changes what you pay.

County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.

At the register

A $75,000 salary

Buying
The goods — $100.00Sales tax — $6.00
6%tax
Tax added$6.00
You hand over$106.00
Rate here6%

Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.

How much of that was tax

A $75,000 salary

Goods — $100.94 · 94%$100.94GoodsTax — $6.06 · 6%$6.06of that was tax
Goods before tax$100.94
Rate applied6%

Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.

Every county here

A $75,000 salary

1different rates across 83 counties83 counties at 6%836%counties at each rate
Lowest6%
Highest6%
Gap between them0%

County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.

What gets taxed, in each

A $75,000 salary

Compare with

Michigan

Statewide average

Most — 6%6%MostFood — freefreeFoodClothes — 6%6%ClothesFuel — 52¢52¢FuelTobacco — $2.00$2.00Tobacco

Texas

Harris County (Houston)

Most — 8.25%8.25%MostFood — freefreeFoodClothes — 8.25%8.25%ClothesFuel — 20¢20¢FuelTobacco — $1.41$1.41Tobacco
  • Sales tax
  • Fuel
  • Tobacco
CategoryMichiganTexas
GroceriesExemptExempt
Clothing at $1006%8.25%
Fuel52.4¢20¢
Tobacco$2.00$1.41

Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.

The split, county by county

The state rate is the same everywhere in Michigan. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.

CountyStateLocalCombined
Statewide average6%0%6%
Wayne County (Detroit)same0%6%
Oakland Countysame0%6%

What it costs on a thousand dollars

The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across Michigan. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is Michigan's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.

What you're buyingTax as share of priceTax on $1,000
General goods6%$60
Groceries0%$0
Prescription drugs0%$0
Clothing6%$60

Every county in Michigan

This is the whole state, not a sample — 83 counties, from 6% in Alcona County up to 6% in Wexford County. There is no local general-sales-tax add-on in Michigan, so crossing a county line does not change this rate.

Complete county coverage for Michigan: 83 counties spanning 6% (Alcona County) to 6% (Wexford County), across 1 distinct rates. These rows use the same general state rate because Michigan has no local general-sales-tax add-on.

Michigan county floor sales tax rates
CountyState portionCounty levyFloor (state + county)
Alcona County6%0%6%
Alger County6%0%6%
Allegan County6%0%6%
Alpena County6%0%6%
Antrim County6%0%6%
Arenac County6%0%6%
Baraga County6%0%6%
Barry County6%0%6%
Bay County6%0%6%
Benzie County6%0%6%
Berrien County6%0%6%
Branch County6%0%6%
Calhoun County6%0%6%
Cass County6%0%6%
Charlevoix County6%0%6%
Cheboygan County6%0%6%
Chippewa County6%0%6%
Clare County6%0%6%
Clinton County6%0%6%
Crawford County6%0%6%
Delta County6%0%6%
Dickinson County6%0%6%
Eaton County6%0%6%
Emmet County6%0%6%
Genesee County6%0%6%
Gladwin County6%0%6%
Gogebic County6%0%6%
Grand Traverse County6%0%6%
Gratiot County6%0%6%
Hillsdale County6%0%6%
Houghton County6%0%6%
Huron County6%0%6%
Ingham County6%0%6%
Ionia County6%0%6%
Iosco County6%0%6%
Iron County6%0%6%
Isabella County6%0%6%
Jackson County6%0%6%
Kalamazoo County6%0%6%
Kalkaska County6%0%6%
Kent County6%0%6%
Keweenaw County6%0%6%
Lake County6%0%6%
Lapeer County6%0%6%
Leelanau County6%0%6%
Lenawee County6%0%6%
Livingston County6%0%6%
Luce County6%0%6%
Mackinac County6%0%6%
Macomb County6%0%6%
Manistee County6%0%6%
Marquette County6%0%6%
Mason County6%0%6%
Mecosta County6%0%6%
Menominee County6%0%6%
Midland County6%0%6%
Missaukee County6%0%6%
Monroe County6%0%6%
Montcalm County6%0%6%
Montmorency County6%0%6%
Muskegon County6%0%6%
Newaygo County6%0%6%
Oakland County6%0%6%
Oceana County6%0%6%
Ogemaw County6%0%6%
Ontonagon County6%0%6%
Osceola County6%0%6%
Oscoda County6%0%6%
Otsego County6%0%6%
Ottawa County6%0%6%
Presque Isle County6%0%6%
Roscommon County6%0%6%
Saginaw County6%0%6%
Sanilac County6%0%6%
Schoolcraft County6%0%6%
Shiawassee County6%0%6%
St. Clair County6%0%6%
St. Joseph County6%0%6%
Tuscola County6%0%6%
Van Buren County6%0%6%
Washtenaw County6%0%6%
Wayne County6%0%6%
Wexford County6%0%6%

Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.

What this page does not cover

  • The first county table and calculator list are samples, but Michigan has no local general-sales-tax add-on. Ordinary goods use the same about 6% rate across the state. A longer county list would not change that rate. What you buy still matters: category exemptions and separate taxes on meals or other purchases can change the bill.
  • This page covers Michigan's general sales tax and nothing else. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco carry their own separate taxes, usually built into the shelf price where you never see them. Cars, hotel rooms and restaurant meals are often taxed at their own rates too. The general rate is the floor, not the ceiling.
  • Categories have edges, and the edges are where the money is. Michigan sets its own rules for what falls inside each exemption. A roast chicken and the ingredients for one are not always taxed the same way, and neither are trainers and shoes. Those distinctions decide what a real shopping trip costs.
  • Michigan permits no local general-sales-tax add-on, so its representative location list does not imply rate variation: ordinary goods use the uniform about 6% state rate. Complete county-floor coverage, where shown separately, records that same rate. Category definitions, per-item exemptions and special transaction taxes remain separate questions; a uniform general rate does not establish the tax treatment of every purchase.
  • The figures here describe Michigan's general sales tax only. Selective excise taxes on motor fuel, alcohol and tobacco operate separately and are typically embedded in the displayed price rather than added at the register. Vehicle purchases, lodging and prepared food frequently attract their own rates or additional local levies. The general rate should therefore be treated as a floor for a given transaction rather than a complete account of what it is taxed.
  • The three exemption classes recorded for Michigan describe treatment at category level only. Statutory definitions determine what actually qualifies: prepared, heated and ready-to-eat foods are commonly excluded from grocery exemptions, and clothing exemptions frequently exclude athletic footwear, accessories or items above a stated price. Effective burden on a real basket therefore depends on these boundaries at least as much as on the headline rate.

Questions people ask

Does the rate change depending on which town I shop in?

It does not. There is no local layer in Michigan, so about 6% holds statewide and one number is genuinely correct.

Is food taxed the same as everything else?

Raw food is exempt in Michigan. Prepared food is not, and the boundary between them is the part that surprises people.

Is clothing exempt here?

No. A handful of states exempt clothing and Michigan is not one of them, so a coat is taxed exactly like a television. The exemption is unusual enough that assuming it is the common mistake.

Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?

A little, but the state sets the bulk of it. With just about 0% decided locally, crossing a boundary changes the total only slightly.

Why is the combined rate uniform across this state?

Michigan authorizes no general local sales tax, so the combined rate equals the state rate of about 6% in every jurisdiction. This is structural rather than sampled: no loaded county levies an add-on because the statute provides for none.

How are groceries classified for sales tax here?

Michigan exempts groceries from general sales tax. The exemption typically excludes prepared food, and definitional boundaries — utensils supplied, heating, or a seller's prepared-food share — determine which side a specific item falls on. Those tests vary by state and are not uniform.

How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?

Michigan applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.

How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?

Locally determined levies account for about 0% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.