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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-HOUGHTON-LAKE-MI · Houghton Lake, MI 5,761 pop · income 21st pct · 13 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 Houghton Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Houghton Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dowagiac · lowest
38,433
Dowagiac · lowest
38,433 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #1
Houghton Lake · this city
50,861
Houghton Lake · this city
50,861 median HH income
43.2% of the leader · rank #2
Cade Lakes · near
50,862
Cade Lakes · near
50,862 median HH income
43.2% of the leader · rank #3
Beloit · near
50,865
Beloit · near
50,865 median HH income
43.2% of the leader · rank #4
Fergus Falls · near
50,865
Fergus Falls · near
50,865 median HH income
43.2% of the leader · rank #5
Sharon Springs · near
50,865
Sharon Springs · near
50,865 median HH income
43.2% of the leader · rank #6
Jamesburg · highest
117,719
Jamesburg · highest
117,719 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 Houghton 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: 5,761.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Houghton Lake places in the 21st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
21st
percentile, household income
18th
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: Houghton Lake, MI
5,761 people live in Houghton Lake, Michigan - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Houghton Lake brings in $50,861 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 15.3%. Typical homes in Houghton Lake are valued around $122,800, and the median resident age is 54.5 years. Educational attainment runs 17.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 42.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 43.9°F with 32.4 inches of precipitation per year and 74.7 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Michigan scores 96.2 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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 Houghton 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 climate and hazard context to housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Houghton Lake, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Houghton Lake?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 43.9°F, with 32.4 inches of precipitation and 74.7 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Michigan is 49.6 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
How far does income reach against housing in Houghton 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Houghton 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 Zeeland (5,691 residents, $49,367 income); Richmond (5,839 residents, $61,715 income); Dowagiac (5,677 residents, $38,433 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Plymouth, PA (5,761 residents); Ettrick, VA (5,760 residents); Jamesburg, NJ (5,763 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.
What can 13 Census tracts reveal inside Houghton Lake?
PlainCities matches 13 Census tracts to this 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.
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 Houghton Lake?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 66.8%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
66.8%
Work from home
12.8%
Public transit
0.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,052 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Houghton 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. 17.4% 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.
Poverty estimate
15.3%
Bachelor's degree+
17.4%
Matched public schools
3
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
F
City profile score · Houghton Lake, MI
31/100
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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$50,861
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).
Houghton Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 27/100 (F) · 17.4%
Poverty rate: 22/100 (F) · 15.3%
Household income: 21/100 (F) · $50,861
How does Houghton Lake compare to other US cities?
Houghton Lake measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income21% higher than other cities
Home value18% 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 Houghton 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 Houghton Lake near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Houghton Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Houghton Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#500 of 718
30th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#453 of 721
37th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#153 of 727
79th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#410 of 727
43rd 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
21st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Houghton Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$122,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% 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
Houghton Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,564 of 15,516
More affordable than 77% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,242 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Houghton Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,564 of 15,516 and #3,242 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
$50,861Houghton Lake, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Houghton 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 Houghton Lake, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,761
Median Income
$50,861
Median Home Value
$122,800
Median Age
54.5
Poverty Rate
15.3%
Labor force participation
42.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.4%
Climate
Avg Temperature
43.9°F
Annual Precipitation
32.4"
Annual Snowfall
74.7"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
66.8%
Carpool
17.8%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
2.4%
Work from Home
12.8%
Based on 2,052 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 Houghton 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 Houghton 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 Houghton Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Houghton 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.