Xie lived in Ann Arbor with his wife and their two children for 26 years before moving to Princeton.
[11][12][1] Along with his sociology appointment, Xie has held various positions in other departments at the University of Michigan.
[15] Since 1999, he has been directing the Quantitative Methodology Program[16] at the Survey Research Center.
During his over twenty years of career at the University of Michigan, Xie held multiple chair professorships.
[3] In 2007, he was appointed Otis Dudley Duncan University Distinguished Professor.