Michigan Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Michigan, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Michigan. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Michigan. The estimated population of Michigan is 10,062,512 people, with a median age of 39.8.

We can look at the total population in Michigan over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
10,062,512
+0.89%
+1.38%
2020
9,973,907
+0.09%
-
2019
9,965,265
+0.08%
-
2018
9,957,488
+0.32%
-
2017
9,925,568
 - -

Population of Michigan by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
74%
75.5%
 -1.99%
Black/African American
13.4%
13.7%
 -2.19%
Native
0.4%
0.4%
 0.00%
Hispanic
5.4%
4.9%
 +10.20%
Asian
3.2%
2.9%
 +10.34%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.3%
2.4%
 +37.50%
Other
0.3%
0.1%
 +200.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Michigan by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 39.8 0% 38.6 +0.52% 41 -0.73%
2020 39.8 +0.25% 38.4 +0.26% 41.3 +0.49%
2019 39.7 0% 38.3 +0.26% 41.1 +0.24%
2018 39.7 +0.25% 38.2 0% 41 0%
2017 39.6 - 38.2 - 41 -

The median age of Michigan gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 601,762 -1.13% 571,838 -1.23% 594,976 564,760
10 to 19 667,710 -0.5% 641,106 -1.28% 664,226 632,694
20 to 29 689,522 +0.48% 662,394 +0.59% 692,777 666,244
30 to 39 581,004 +6.71% 586,679 +4.74% 620,924 614,916
40 to 49 622,103 -3.73% 633,000 -5.29% 598,970 600,061
50 to 59 704,475 -3.38% 736,456 -6.09% 680,735 692,677
60 to 69 568,398 +10.48% 612,524 +7.92% 630,286 662,454
70+ 445,605 +11.78% 600,992 +7.22% 500,431 645,381

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Michigan is $63,202.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Michigan.

  • Under 25
    $35,152.00
  • 25 to 44
    $70,251.00
  • 45 to 64
    $76,804.00
  • 65 and over
    $48,046.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Michigan, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Michigan, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Michigan is currently $85,727.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

6.64% of households in Michigan are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Michigan against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    18.26%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.72%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.90%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.23%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    15.55%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.69%
  • $200,000 or more
    6.64%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Michigan is $34,768.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Michigan by the total population of Michigan.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Michigan, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Michigan to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    14.50%
  • Bachelor's degree
    30.34%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.50%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    40.01%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.64%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Michigan that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Michigan over the age of 16 is 8,136,493.

Of those people, a total of 61.50% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Michigan is 57.70%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 530,637 44.10% 16.40%
20 to 24 years 682,724 77.00% 10.40%
25 to 29 years 676,297 83.60% 7.40%
30 to 34 years 622,738 82.70% 5.80%
35 to 44 years 1,192,280 82.20% 5.10%
45 to 54 years 1,282,178 80.20% 4.50%
55 to 59 years 711,087 71.30% 4.30%
60 to 64 years 705,496 53.40% 4.00%
65 to 74 years 1,046,906 22.50% 4.60%
75 years and over 686,150 5.90% 3.80%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Michigan. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 6,373,683 61.50% 5.00%
Black or African American 1,063,805 59.10% 13.10%
American Indian and Alaska Native 38,590 56.00% 8.20%
Asian 262,966 66.40% 4.30%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 2,394 64.10% 7.20%
Other 104,644 63.90% 7.90%
Two or more races 290,411 67.40% 9.00%
Hispanic or Latino 371,270 69.00% 7.50%
Not Hispanic or Latino 6,190,378 61.30% 5.00%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Michigan as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Michigan is 4,692,409, with median earnings of $39,833.00.

Women in Michigan earning approximately 67.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 4,692,409 $39,833.00
Male 2,457,622 $48,133.00
Female 2,234,787 $32,360.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 468,993 $73,009.00
Business and Financial 241,343 $63,627.00
Computer and Mathematical 133,651 $76,443.00
Architecture and Engineering 153,336 $89,009.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 39,907 $57,263.00
Community and Social Service 81,208 $44,885.00
Legal 40,592 $76,322.00
Educational and Library 247,477 $41,020.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 81,255 $38,868.00
Healthcare Practitioners 309,689 $59,089.00
Healthcare Support 166,561 $23,091.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 41,568 $32,407.00
Law Enforcement 36,544 $64,883.00
Food Preparation and Serving 269,404 $13,437.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 163,898 $21,043.00
Personal Care and Service 114,423 $16,224.00
Sales 434,950 $31,097.00
Office and Administrative Support 516,804 $33,871.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 22,798 $24,237.00
Construction and Extraction 201,187 $43,011.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 145,646 $49,156.00
Production 421,288 $39,345.00
Transportation and Material Moving 166,207 $36,766.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 274,281 $86,593.00 194,712 $57,821.00
Business and Financial 109,352 $75,589.00 131,991 $56,083.00
Computer and Mathematical 98,102 $79,388.00 35,549 $68,908.00
Architecture and Engineering 130,253 $91,344.00 23,083 $77,466.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 21,236 $62,726.00 18,671 $52,545.00
Community and Social Service 26,435 $47,079.00 54,773 $44,125.00
Legal 20,223 $102,745.00 20,369 $60,464.00
Educational and Library 70,082 $51,845.00 177,395 $37,445.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 41,791 $50,973.00 39,464 $29,670.00
Healthcare Practitioners 73,494 $80,021.00 236,195 $54,817.00
Healthcare Support 21,211 $24,803.00 145,350 $22,895.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 30,863 $38,191.00 10,705 $21,213.00
Law Enforcement 30,519 $66,110.00 6,025 $57,888.00
Food Preparation and Serving 112,595 $15,148.00 156,809 $12,473.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 100,311 $25,479.00 63,587 $16,140.00
Personal Care and Service 25,360 $19,805.00 89,063 $15,653.00
Sales 215,481 $44,982.00 219,469 $21,377.00
Office and Administrative Support 120,203 $38,728.00 396,601 $32,785.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 15,984 $28,663.00 6,814 $17,316.00
Construction and Extraction 194,277 $43,279.00 6,910 $32,024.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 139,578 $49,655.00 6,068 $42,440.00
Production 303,282 $43,480.00 118,006 $30,847.00
Transportation and Material Moving 140,018 $40,538.00 26,189 $22,873.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 3,976,729 households in Michigan, with an average household size of 2.48 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 2,522,202 families in Michigan with an average family size of 3.09 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,861,214 194,088 466,900 1,454,527
Average Household Size 3.13 3.24 3.34 1.25
Total Families 1,861,214 194,088 466,900 0
Average Household Size 3.11 2.83 3.12 0

Poverty

Of the 2,522,202 families in Michigan, 8.90% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Michigan:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 4,566,504 housing units in Michigan.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 3,976,729 87.08%
Vacant 589,775 12.92%

22.99% of the total 4,566,504 housing units in Michigan are rental units. This is approximately 1,049,825 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 2,870,693 are occupied by the owner - or 62.86% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Michigan is $946.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Michigan that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    56,211
  • Less than $500
    109,627
  • $500 to $999
    480,618
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    333,610
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    85,844
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    22,749
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    7,598
  • $3,000 or more
    9,779

Property Value

The median value of a property in Michigan is $172,100.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Michigan that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    284,457
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    422,975
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    471,208
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    490,400
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    602,204
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    436,850
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    136,250
  • $1,000,000 or more
    26,349

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Michigan. The chart below shows the number of properties in Michigan that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    660,962
  • 1940 to 1949
    330,876
  • 1950 to 1959
    668,928
  • 1960 to 1969
    538,978
  • 1970 to 1979
    699,848
  • 1980 to 1989
    448,163
  • 1990 to 1999
    593,988
  • 2000 to 2009
    453,307
  • 2010 to 2013
    166,951
  • 2014 or later
    4,503

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Michigan that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    288,915
  • 1 vehicle available
    1,348,051
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,534,679
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    805,084

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Michigan get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Michigan that commute to work in a particular way.

24.5 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Michigan.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    131,699
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    446,434
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    607,833
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    675,715
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    639,233
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    315,202
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    526,865
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    140,233
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    161,819
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    301,216
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    187,092
  • 90 or more minutes
    78,387

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Michigan in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Michigan

We have data for 83 counties in Michigan. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Michigan

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Michigan, click on the links below.