Michigan has a continental climate, although there are two distinct regions. The southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula (south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward) have a warmer climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Köppen Dfb), with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. 

Some parts of the state average high temperatures below freezing from December through February, and into early March in the far northern parts. During the winter through the middle of February the state is frequently subjected to heavy lake-effect snow. The state averages from 30–40 inches (76–102 cm) of precipitation annually, however some areas in the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula average almost 160" of snowfall per year. Michigan's highest recorded temperature is 112 °F (44 °C) at Mio on July 13, 1936, and the coldest recorded temperature is −51 °F (−46 °C) at Vanderbilt on February 9, 1934.

The entire state averages 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. These can be severe, especially in the southern part of the state. The state averages 17 tornadoes per year, which are more common in the extreme southern portion of the state. Portions of the southern border have been almost as vulnerable historically as states further west and in Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state are equipped with tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Michigan was 9,922,576 on July 1, 2015, an increase of 0.39% from 9,883,635 recorded at the 2010 United States Census. 

The center of population of Michigan is located in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is located northwest of the village of Morrice. 

As of the 2010 American Community Survey for the U.S. Census, the state had a foreign-born population of 592,212, or 6.0% of the total. Michigan has the largest Dutch, Finnish, and Macedonian populations in the United States.

The 2010 Census reported:

• White American: 78.9% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 76.6%, White Hispanic: 2.3%)
• Black or African American: 14.2%
• American Indian: 0.6%
• Asian American: 2.4%
• Pacific Islander: <0.1%
• Some other race: 1.5%
• Multiracial: 2.3%

In the same year Hispanics or Latinos (of any race) made up 4.4% of the population.

Ancestry	Percent
German	20.6%
Irish	11.0%
English	9.0%
Polish	8.4%
American	6.0%
French or French Canadian	5.9%
Dutch	4.6%
Italian	4.6%
Scottish	2.1%
Arab	1.8%
Swedish	1.4%
Hungarian	0.9%
Norwegian	0.8%
Russian	0.8%
Scotch-Irish	0.7%

Map showing the largest ancestry group in each county (2008)

The large majority of Michigan's population is Caucasian. Americans of European descent live throughout Michigan and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, British, Irish, Polish and Belgian ancestry. People of Scandinavian descent, and those of Finnish ancestry, have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula. Western Michigan is known for the Dutch heritage of many residents (the highest concentration of any state), especially in Holland and metropolitan Grand Rapids.

African Americans, who came to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century, form a majority of the population of the city of Detroit and of other cities, including Flint and Benton Harbor.

As of 2011, 34.3% of Michigan's children under the age of one belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups, meaning that they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white. 

As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeastern Michigan trace their descent from the Middle East.  Dearborn has a sizeable Arabcommunity, with many Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, and Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s along with more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. 

As of 2007 almost 8,000 Hmong people lived in the State of Michigan, about double their 1999 presence in the state.  As of 2007 most lived in northeastern Detroit, but they had been increasingly moving to Pontiac and Warren.  By 2015 the number of Hmong in the Detroit city limits had significantly declined.  Lansing hosts a statewide Hmong New Year Festival. 

As of 2015, 80% of Michigan's Japanese population lived in the counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas.  As of April 2013, the largest Japanese national population is in Novi, with 2,666 Japanese residents, and the next largest populations are respectively in Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield Township, Farmington Hills, and Battle Creek. The state has 481 Japanese employment facilities providing 35,554 local jobs. 391 of them are in Southeast Michigan, providing 20,816 jobs, and the 90 in other regions in the state provide 14,738 jobs. The Japanese Direct Investment Survey of the Consulate-General of Japan, Detroit stated that over 2,208 additional Japanese residents were employed in the State of Michigan as of October 1, 2012, than in 2011.  During the 1990s the Japanese population of Michigan experienced an increase, and many Japanese people with children moved to particular areas for their proximity to Japanese grocery stores and high-performing schools. 

A person from Michigan is called a Michigander or Michiganian;  also at times, but rarely, a "Michiganite".[66] Residents of the Upper Peninsula are sometimes referred to as "Yoopers" (a phonetic pronunciation of "U.P.ers"), and Upper Peninsula residents sometimes refer to those from the Lower Peninsula as "trolls" because they live below the bridge. 

As of 2010, 91.11% (8,507,947) of Michigan residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 2.93% (273,981) spoke Spanish, 1.04% (97,559) Arabic, 0.44% (41,189) German, 0.36% (33,648) Chinese (which includes Mandarin), 0.31% (28,891) French, 0.29% (27,019) Polish, and Syriac languages (such as Modern Aramaic and Northeastern Neo-Aramaic) was spoken as a main language by 0.25% (23,420) of the population over the age of five. In total, 8.89% (830,281) of Michigan's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English

Michigan is the leading U.S. producer of tart cherries, blueberries,pickling cucumbers, navy beans andpetunias.

A wide variety of commodity crops, fruits, and vegetables are grown in Michigan, making it second only to California among U.S. states in the diversity of its agriculture.  The state has 54,800 farms utilizing 10,000,000 acres (40,000 km2) of land which sold $6.49 billion worth of products in 2010.  The most valuable agricultural product is milk. Leading crops include corn, soybeans, flowers, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. Livestock in the state included 1 million cattle, 1 million hogs, 78,000 sheep and over 3 million chickens. Livestock products accounted for 38% of the value of agricultural products while crops accounted for the majority.

Michigan is a leading grower of fruit in the U.S., including blueberries, cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.   Plums, pears, and strawberries are also grown. These fruits are mainly grown in West Michigan due to the moderating effect of Lake Michigan on the climate. There is also significant fruit production, especially cherries, but also grapes, apples, and other fruits, in Northwest Michigan along Lake Michigan. Michigan produces wines, beers and a multitude of processed food products. Kellogg's cereal is based in Battle Creek, Michigan and processes many locally grown foods. Thornapple Valley, Ball Park Franks, Koegel Meat Company, and Hebrew National sausage companies are all based in Michigan.

Michigan is home to very fertile land in the Saginaw Valley and "Thumb" areas. Products grown there include corn, sugar beets, navy beans, and soy beans. Sugar beet harvesting usually begins the first of October. It takes the sugar factories about five months to process the 3.7 million tons of sugarbeets into 970 million pounds of pure, white sugar.  Michigan's largest sugar refiner, Michigan Sugar Company  is the largest east of the Mississippi River and the fourth largest in the nation. Michigan Sugar brand names are Pioneer Sugar and the newly incorporated Big Chief Sugar. Potatoes are grown in Northern Michigan, and corn is dominant in Central Michigan. Alfalfa, cucumbers, and asparagus are also grown.

Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. Pictured is the Ford Shelby GT500 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The GT500 is manufactured in Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan, assembly plant.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration estimated Michigan's 2014 gross state product to be $417.306 billion, ranking 13th out of the 50 states.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of October 2015, the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 5.0%. 

Products and services include automobiles, food products, information technology, aerospace, military equipment, furniture, and mining of copper and iron ore. Michigan is the third leading grower of Christmas trees with 60,520 acres (245 km2) of land dedicated to Christmas tree farming.  The beverage Vernors was invented in Michigan in 1866, sharing the title of oldest soft drink with Hires Root Beer. Faygo was founded in Detroit on November 4, 1907. Two of the top four pizza chains were founded in Michigan and are headquartered there: Domino's Pizza by Tom Monaghan and Little Caesars Pizza by Mike Ilitch. Michigan became the 24th Right to Work state in U.S. in 2012.

Since 2009, GM, Ford and Chrysler have managed a significant reorganization of their benefit funds structure after a volatile stock market which followed the September 11 attacks and early 2000s recession impacted their respective U.S. pension and benefit funds (OPEB).  General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler reached agreements with the United Auto Workers Union to transfer the liabilities for their respective health care and benefit funds to a 501(c)(9) Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA). Manufacturing in the state grew 6.6% from 2001 to 2006,  but the high speculative price of oil became a factor for the U.S. auto industry during the economic crisis of 2008 impacting industry revenues. In 2009, GM and Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 restructurings with financing provided in part by the U.S. and Canadian governments.  GM began its initial public offering (IPO) of stock in 2010.  For 2010, the Big Three domestic automakers have reported significant profits indicating the beginning of rebound.

As of 2002, Michigan ranked fourth in the U.S. in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.  Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.  Its research and development, which includes automotive, comprises a higher percentage of the state's overall gross domestic product than for any other U.S. state.  The state is an important source of engineering job opportunities. The domestic auto industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.

Michigan was second in the U.S. in 2004 for new corporate facilities and expansions. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments;  however, the effects of the late 2000s recession have slowed the state's economy. In 2008, Michigan placed third in a site selection survey among the states for luring new business which measured capital investment and new job creation per one million population.  In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit's auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of electric vehicle technologies which is expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.  From 2007 to 2009, Michigan ranked 3rd in the U.S. for new corporate facilities and expansions.

As leading research institutions, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University are important partners in the state's economy and its University Research Corridor.  Michigan's public universities attract more than $1.5 B in research and development grants each year. The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is located at Michigan State University. Michigan's workforce is well-educated and highly skilled, making it attractive to companies. It has the third highest number of engineering graduates nationally.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of the nation's most recently expanded and modernized airports with six major runways, and large aircraft maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing a Boeing 747 and is a major hub for Delta Air Lines. Michigan's schools and colleges rank among the nation's best. The state has maintained its early commitment to public education. The state's infrastructure gives it a competitive edge; Michigan has 38 deep water ports.  In 2007, Bank of America announced that it would commit $25 billion to community development in Michigan following its acquisition of LaSalle Bank in Troy.

Michigan led the nation in job creation improvement in 2010

Michigan is served by four Class I railroads; the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, and the Norfolk Southern Railway. These are augmented by several dozen short line railroads. The vast majority of rail service in Michigan is devoted to freight, with Amtrak and various scenic railroads the exceptions. 

Amtrak passenger rail services the state, connecting many southern and western Michigan cities to Chicago, Illinois. There are plans for commuter rail for Detroit and its suburbs (see SEMCOG Commuter Rail)

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•  Geographic data related to Michigan at OpenStreetMap
• State of Michigan government website
• Energy Data & Statistics for Michigan
• Info Michigan, detailed information on 630 cities
• Michigan Historic Markers
• Historical Society of Michigan
• Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliographies for Michigan by region, counties, etc..
• Michigan State Guide from the Library of Congress
• Michigan Official Travel Site
• Michigan Official Business Site
• Michigan Official Talent Site
• Michigan State Fact Sheet from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• The Michigan Municipal League
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Michigan
• Michigan at DMOZ