Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMI-GRASS-LAKE-MI · Grass Lake, MI 1,235 pop · income 55th 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 Grass Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Grass Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pickens · lowest
31,107
Pickens · lowest
31,107 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #1
Meriden · near
74,297
Meriden · near
74,297 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #2
Pass Christian · near
74,302
Pass Christian · near
74,302 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #3
Grass Lake · this city
74,306
Grass Lake · this city
74,306 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #4
Carolina Shor… · near
74,310
Carolina Shor… · near
74,310 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #5
Mogadore · near
74,313
Mogadore · near
74,313 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #6
Lincolndale · highest
200,156
Lincolndale · highest
200,156 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 Grass Lake 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: 1,235.
Nationally, Grass Lake sits in the 55th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
55th
percentile, household income
43rd
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: Grass Lake, MI
Grass Lake is a small town in Michigan, home to 1,235 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Grass Lake report a median income of $74,306 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.0%. Typical homes in Grass Lake are valued around $199,400, and the median resident age is 32.5 years. 30.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 72.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 2 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier.
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). 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. 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 Grass Lake'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 work and mobility to population change to schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Grass Lake, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Grass Lake?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.5%. 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.
Is Grass Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
What does the education layer cover for Grass Lake?
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 3 public schools within the city match. 30.9% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Grass Lake?
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 Stockbridge (1,235 residents, $49,875 income); Birch Run (1,236 residents, $65,313 income); Reading (1,241 residents, $48,804 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Roberta, GA (1,235 residents); Pickens, MS (1,235 residents); Lincolndale, NY (1,235 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Grass Lake?
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 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.7×
Home value
$199,400
Household income
$74,306
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 8.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
C-
City profile score · Grass Lake, MI
54/100
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 C
30.9%
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.
Household income C-
$74,306
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Grass Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 59/100 (C) · 30.9%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Household income: 54/100 (C-) · $74,306
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 8.0%
How does Grass Lake compare to other US cities?
Where Grass Lake sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income55% higher than other cities
Home value43% 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 Grass Lake 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 Grass Lake near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Grass Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Grass Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#185 of 718
74th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#226 of 721
69th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#364 of 727
49th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#188 of 727
74th 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
55th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Grass Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$199,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 57% 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
Grass Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,946 of 15,516
More affordable than 68% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,353 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Grass Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,946 of 15,516 and #4,353 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$74,306Grass Lake, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Grass Lake, 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 Grass Lake, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)30.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)72.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,235
Median Income
$74,306
Median Home Value
$199,400
Median Age
32.5
Poverty Rate
8.0%
Labor force participation
72.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
30.9%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Grass Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,110 residents
2021
1,110 residents
2022
1,102 residents
2023
1,101 residents
2024
1,098 residents
2025
1,098 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2
0
2
$0.3M
2020
2
0
2
$0.3M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
2
2
0
$0.5M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.5%
Carpool
6.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
15.0%
Other
1.2%
Based on 701 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 Grass Lake. 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 Grass Lake 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 Grass Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Grass Lake 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 BPS 2024, 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.