Small business · Restaurants · Michigan
Health insurance for Michigan restaurants
Lots of part-time staff, tight margins and turnover. Here’s how the counting rules work and which options fit a restaurant budget.
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- 291,435 MI restaurant jobs
- Part-time hours count
- QSEHRA & ICHRA options
Get options for my restaurant
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Restaurants in Michigan, by the numbers
| Michigan private industry | Jobs (2025 avg.) | Locations | Avg. jobs per location | Avg. annual pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places (NAICS 7225) | 291,435 | 16,230 | 18.0 | $24,460 |
| Full-service restaurants (NAICS 722511) | 142,589 | 7,589 | 18.8 | $26,677 |
| Limited-service restaurants (NAICS 722513) | 130,258 | 7,072 | 18.4 | $22,259 |
BLS QCEW, 2025 annual averages, private ownership; jobs per location is jobs divided by establishments.[1] QCEW covers jobs reported under unemployment insurance and excludes proprietors and the unincorporated self-employed.[2]
What benefits look like in this kind of work
- In service occupations, 47% of private-industry workers had access to an employer medical plan and 23% participated.[3]
- Only 23% of part-time private-industry workers had access, compared with 87% of full-time workers.[3]
- Workers in the lowest-paid quarter of private jobs had 39% access.[3]
- Where coverage was offered to service workers, employers paid 76% of single-coverage premiums on average.[4]
National figures for private industry; BLS doesn’t publish these by state.[3]
What we’d look at for a restaurant
Michigan restaurants averaged 18.0 jobs per location and $24,460 in average annual pay in 2025, which includes part-time staff.[1] For many owners the first step is counting full-time equivalents correctly, then deciding whether to cover managers and full-time kitchen staff with a group plan or a fixed-dollar ICHRA or QSEHRA.
Rules that apply to you
- Small group is 1 to 50. For SHOP coverage you generally need 1 to 50 full-time-equivalent employees who aren’t owners or family, and you can start any time of year.[5] See small group rules.
- Can’t meet a carrier’s contribution or participation rule? Federal rules let insurers limit those groups to a November 15 to December 15 enrollment window each year.[6] See contribution and participation rules.
- The mandate starts at 50. Employers with at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, on average in the prior year are applicable large employers.[7]
- Part-time hours count toward that 50: you combine non-full-time employees’ monthly hours, up to 120 per person, to get full-time equivalents.[7] See the employer mandate at 50.
- QSEHRA is open only to employers that aren’t applicable large employers and don’t offer a group health plan; 2026 limits are $6,450 single and $13,100 family.[8] See QSEHRA.
- ICHRA can be offered by class of employees, but you can’t offer the same class both an ICHRA and a traditional group plan.[9] See ICHRA and ICHRA vs. a group plan.
- Tax credit check. The small business health care tax credit requires fewer than 25 FTEs and average annual wages under $67,000 per FTE (2025 rules), with a plan through SHOP.[10] This industry’s Michigan average pay was $24,460 in 2025[1], but your own payroll math decides it. See the Form 8941 guide.
Workers’ compensation is a separate, required coverage and isn’t covered on this page.
Related: small business health insurance, level-funded plans and adding dental and vision.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Michigan, 2025 annual averages (private ownership). https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/area/26000.csv
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Overview: coverage and employment exclusions. https://www.bls.gov/cew/overview.htm
- BLS, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026, Table 2: Medical care benefits, access and participation. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.t02.htm
- BLS, Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026, Table 3: Share of premiums paid, single coverage. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.t03.htm
- HealthCare.gov, Overview of SHOP: Health insurance for small businesses. https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/choose-and-enroll/shop-marketplace-overview/
- 45 CFR 147.104, Guaranteed availability of coverage (eCFR). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-B/part-147/section-147.104
- IRS, Determining if an employer is an applicable large employer. https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/determining-if-an-employer-is-an-applicable-large-employer
- IRS, Publication 15-B (2026), Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b
- 26 CFR 54.9802-4, Special rule allowing integration of HRAs with individual health insurance coverage (eCFR). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-54/section-54.9802-4
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8941 (2025). https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8941
Checked October 16, 2026. 2027 Marketplace plans and final 2027 rates aren’t published yet; we’ll update this page when they are.
Frequently asked questions
Do part-time restaurant workers count toward the 50-employee rule?
Their hours do. The IRS combines non-full-time employees' hours for each month, up to 120 hours per person, to figure full-time equivalents.
Can a restaurant offer health insurance to managers only?
With an ICHRA, benefits are set by employee class, but the same class can't be offered both an ICHRA and a group plan. Class and nondiscrimination rules apply, so we review your setup first.
Will you sell my information?
No. Your information goes to Nexus Benefit Solutions only and is never sold.