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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-BENZONIA-MI · Benzonia, MI 735 pop · income 37th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Benzonia
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Benzonia on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hamer · lowest
45,417
Hamer · lowest
45,417 median HH income
35.0% of the leader · rank #1
Benzonia · this city
61,161
Benzonia · this city
61,161 median HH income
47.1% of the leader · rank #2
Marianne · near
61,161
Marianne · near
61,161 median HH income
47.1% of the leader · rank #3
Griswold · near
61,167
Griswold · near
61,167 median HH income
47.1% of the leader · rank #4
Oregon · near
61,167
Oregon · near
61,167 median HH income
47.1% of the leader · rank #5
Manchester · near
61,172
Manchester · near
61,172 median HH income
47.1% of the leader · rank #6
Little Falls · highest
129,911
Little Falls · highest
129,911 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Benzonia on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 735.
Nationally, Benzonia sits in the 37th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
37th
percentile, household income
42nd
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Benzonia, MI
Benzonia is a small town in Michigan, home to 735 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $61,161 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.6%. Benzonia's housing stock carries a median value of $195,800, and the median resident age is 46.4 years. Educational attainment runs 35.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 4 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: the state registers 96.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,113 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $238 across Michigan, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 49.6 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Benzonia's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Benzonia, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Benzonia?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Hardwood Acres (735 residents, $107,128 income); Columbiaville (734 residents, $58,250 income); Sanford (743 residents, $69,667 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Georgetown, ID (735 residents); Little Falls, ME (735 residents); Foreston, MN (735 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 35.9% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
What does the journey to work look like in Benzonia?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 66.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
How far does income reach against housing in Benzonia?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Benzonia growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +19 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
547
2025 estimate
566
Period change
+3.5%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 10.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
D
City profile score · Benzonia, MI
48/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C
96.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
10.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$61,161
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Benzonia profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 35.9%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Poverty rate: 37/100 (F) · 10.6%
Household income: 36/100 (F) · $61,161
How does Benzonia compare to other US cities?
Here's how Benzonia stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income37% higher than other cities
Home value42% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Benzonia against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Michigan only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Michigan-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Benzonia near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Benzonia ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Benzonia only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#340 of 718
53rd percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#231 of 721
68th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#287 of 727
60th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#149 of 727
79th percentile in Michigan
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Michigan only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
37th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Benzonia's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$195,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 58% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Benzonia's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,710 of 15,516
More affordable than 50% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,371 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Benzonia sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,710 of 15,516 and #6,371 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$61,161Benzonia, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Benzonia, MI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Benzonia, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
735
Median Income
$61,161
Median Home Value
$195,800
Median Age
46.4
Poverty Rate
10.6%
Labor force participation
54.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.9%
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Benzonia's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
547 residents
2021
555 residents
2022
558 residents
2023
563 residents
2024
565 residents
2025
566 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
66.1%
Carpool
11.1%
Public Transit
5.7%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
15.7%
Based on 351 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Michigan statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $238
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Michigan at $238 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Michigan statewide averages, not a meter reading for Benzonia. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Michigan's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Benzonia is $1,113/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Michigan statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Michigan statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Benzonia sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Benzonia compares to similar-size Michigan cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.