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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-BOYNE-CITY-MI · Boyne City, MI 3,829 pop · income 47th pct · 11 tracts
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 Boyne City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Boyne City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Avenue B and C · lowest
40,554
Avenue B and C · lowest
40,554 median HH income
23.5% of the leader · rank #1
Dunedin · near
68,068
Dunedin · near
68,068 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #2
Boyne City · this city
68,087
Boyne City · this city
68,087 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #3
West Point · near
68,088
West Point · near
68,088 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #4
Bird City · near
68,095
Bird City · near
68,095 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #5
Avoca · near
68,103
Avoca · near
68,103 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #6
Genesee · highest
172,692
Genesee · highest
172,692 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Boyne City on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 3,829.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Boyne City - the verdict
Nationally, Boyne City sits in the 47th percentile for household income and the 88th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
47th
percentile, household income
52nd
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
88th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Boyne City, MI
3,829 people live in Boyne City, Michigan - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Boyne City report a median income of $68,087 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.2%. Typical homes in Boyne City are valued around $233,900, and the median resident age is 47.7 years. Educational attainment runs 37.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Boyne City reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 442.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Michigan at 96.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,113 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Michigan's average monthly utility costs around $238 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Boyne City'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 population change to within-city variation to reported crime to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Boyne City, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Boyne City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -15 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.4% 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.
What can 11 Census tracts reveal inside Boyne City?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 11 Census tracts to this city.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Boyne City?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 442.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 81% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Boyne City?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Vicksburg (3,824 residents, $70,070 income); Portland (3,821 residents, $65,116 income); Williamston (3,800 residents, $73,902 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elim, PA (3,828 residents); Freeland, PA (3,830 residents); Avenue B and C, AZ (3,831 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.
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Boyne City?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.7%
Work from home
13.4%
Drive alone
73.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,943 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Boyne City?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Household income
$68,087
Home value
$233,900
Value / income
3.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Boyne City?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 37.8% 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.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
37.8%
Poverty estimate
4.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 4.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
C+
City profile score · Boyne City, MI
63/100
5 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.
Violent crime B+
78 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate B
4.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B
37.8%
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.
Household income D
$68,087
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Boyne City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 76/100 (B+) · 78 /100k
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.2%
Bachelor's+ share: 71/100 (B) · 37.8%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Household income: 46/100 (D) · $68,087
Where Boyne City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Boyne City's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Boyne City highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Boyne City, MI (this city): home $233,900, crime 443/100k
Vicksburg, MI : home $208,300, crime 2,270/100k
Portland, MI : home $165,000, crime 448/100k
Williamston, MI : home $215,000, crime 319/100k
Plainwell, MI : home $191,100, crime 1,446/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Boyne City compare to other US cities?
Here's how Boyne City stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income47% higher than other cities
Home value52% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
Safety88% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Michigan and the picture shifts: Boyne City ranks #28 of 254 Michigan cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Boyne City 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 Boyne City near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Boyne City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Boyne City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#251 of 718
65th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#152 of 721
79th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#512 of 727
29th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#138 of 727
81st 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
47th percentile nationally for median household income · 88th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Boyne City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Boyne City's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Boyne City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$233,90048th percentilemore affordable than 48% 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
Boyne City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,720 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,067 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, Boyne City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,720 of 15,516 and #7,067 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
$68,087Boyne City, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Boyne City, 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 Boyne City, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)37.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,829
Median Income
$68,087
Median Home Value
$233,900
Median Age
47.7
Poverty Rate
4.2%
Labor force participation
61.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
37.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
442.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
78.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
364.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Boyne City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,808 residents
2021
3,829 residents
2022
3,814 residents
2023
3,809 residents
2024
3,810 residents
2025
3,793 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.6%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
2.1%
Work from Home
13.4%
Other
1.5%
Based on 1,943 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 Boyne City. 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 Boyne City 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 Boyne City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Boyne City 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, FBI UCR, 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.