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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-SARANAC-MI · Saranac, MI 1,973 pop · income 42nd 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 Saranac
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Saranac on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Century · lowest
26,716
Century · lowest
26,716 median HH income
17.3% of the leader · rank #1
Fairview · near
64,152
Fairview · near
64,152 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #2
Saranac · this city
64,157
Saranac · this city
64,157 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #3
Level Plains · near
64,167
Level Plains · near
64,167 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #4
Gustavus · near
64,167
Gustavus · near
64,167 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #5
Avoca · near
64,167
Avoca · near
64,167 median HH income
41.6% of the leader · rank #6
Forest Ranch · highest
154,212
Forest Ranch · highest
154,212 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 Saranac 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: 1,973.
Nationally, Saranac sits in the 42nd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
42nd
percentile, household income
38th
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: Saranac, MI
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,973 residents in Saranac, a small town within Michigan. Median household income here is $64,157 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.5%. Saranac's housing stock carries a median value of $183,300, and the median resident age is 33.4 years. Educational attainment runs 22.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,113 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Michigan run around $238, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Saranac'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Saranac, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Saranac 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 grew by +13 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.9% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Saranac?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.5%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Saranac?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Twin Lake (1,997 residents, $80,150 income); Baraga (1,948 residents, $39,297 income); Stony Point (1,999 residents, $57,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Salt Creek Commons, IN (1,973 residents); Dawson Springs, KY (1,973 residents); Forest Ranch, CA (1,974 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Saranac?
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 82.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Saranac?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 22.4% 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.
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+
22.4%
Poverty estimate
10.5%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 10.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.2 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
D
City profile score · Saranac, MI
44/100
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.
Household income D
$64,157
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.5%
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).
Saranac profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,157
Bachelor's+ share: 41/100 (D) · 22.4%
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.5%
How does Saranac compare to other US cities?
Saranac measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income42% higher than other cities
Home value38% 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 Saranac 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 Saranac near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Saranac ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Saranac only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#297 of 718
59th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#262 of 721
64th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#289 of 727
60th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#308 of 727
57th 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
42nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Saranac's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$183,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 62% 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
Saranac's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,901 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,089 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Saranac sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,901 of 15,516 and #5,089 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
$64,157Saranac, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Saranac, 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 Saranac, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,973
Median Income
$64,157
Median Home Value
$183,300
Median Age
33.4
Poverty Rate
10.5%
Labor force participation
67.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.4%
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
Saranac's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,373 residents
2021
1,383 residents
2022
1,379 residents
2023
1,377 residents
2024
1,380 residents
2025
1,386 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.9%
Carpool
2.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
13.4%
Based on 1,093 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 Saranac. 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 Saranac 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 Saranac sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Saranac 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.