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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-THREE-RIVERS-MI · Three Rivers, MI 7,936 pop · income 18th 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 Three Rivers
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Three Rivers on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Big Rapids · lowest
40,197
Big Rapids · lowest
40,197 median HH income
22.4% of the leader · rank #1
Grass Valley · near
48,850
Grass Valley · near
48,850 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #2
Three Rivers · this city
48,852
Three Rivers · this city
48,852 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #3
Benson · near
48,854
Benson · near
48,854 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #4
Sedan · near
48,854
Sedan · near
48,854 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #5
Vale · near
48,854
Vale · near
48,854 median HH income
27.2% of the leader · rank #6
Lincolnshire · highest
179,735
Lincolnshire · highest
179,735 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 Three Rivers 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: 7,936.
Three Rivers ranks in the 18th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
18th
percentile, household income
17th
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: Three Rivers, MI
Michigan's Three Rivers is a small town, with 7,936 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $48,852 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 11.5%. Three Rivers's housing stock carries a median value of $120,200, and the median resident age is 34.9 years. 15.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 12 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 1100% from five years earlier. NOAA puts Three Rivers's yearly average temperature at 48.5°F with 39.7 inches of precipitation per year and 41.2 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Michigan run around $238, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Three Rivers'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 schools and households to housing and income to population change to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Three Rivers, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Three Rivers?
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 6 public schools within the city match. 15.2% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Three Rivers?
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 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Three Rivers growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -62 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 12 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Three Rivers?
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 Grand Blanc (7,995 residents, $67,284 income); Hillsdale (8,013 residents, $47,817 income); Big Rapids (7,847 residents, $40,197 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lincolnshire, IL (7,937 residents); Wagoner, OK (7,934 residents); Moundsville, WV (7,934 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Three Rivers?
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 48.5°F, with 39.7 inches of precipitation and 41.2 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
49.6
Annual precipitation
39.7 in
Mean temperature
48.5°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Three Rivers?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.9%. 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
75.9%
Work from home
2.6%
Public transit
0.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,499 workers age 16+.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
F
City profile score · Three Rivers, MI
33/100
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.
Poverty rate F
11.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$48,852
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).
Three Rivers profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Poverty rate: 34/100 (F) · 11.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 21/100 (F) · 15.2%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $48,852
How does Three Rivers compare to other US cities?
Here's how Three Rivers stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value17% 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 Three Rivers 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 Three Rivers near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Three Rivers ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Three Rivers only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#542 of 718
25th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#471 of 721
35th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#253 of 727
65th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#470 of 727
35th 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
18th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Three Rivers's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Three Rivers's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,794 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,433 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Three Rivers sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,794 of 15,516 and #3,433 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
$48,852Three Rivers, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Three Rivers, 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 Three Rivers, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,936
Median Income
$48,852
Median Home Value
$120,200
Median Age
34.9
Poverty Rate
11.5%
Labor force participation
57.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.2%
Climate
Avg Temperature
48.5°F
Annual Precipitation
39.7"
Annual Snowfall
41.2"
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Three Rivers's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,972 residents
2021
7,939 residents
2022
7,900 residents
2023
7,942 residents
2024
7,951 residents
2025
7,910 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
12
housing units authorized
Single-Family
12
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.2M
2020
6
6
0
$1.4M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
28
28
0
$4.8M
2023
17
17
0
$3.1M
2024
12
12
0
$5.3M
Permit volume increased 1100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.9%
Carpool
15.7%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
3.8%
Work from Home
2.6%
Other
1.7%
Based on 3,499 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 Three Rivers. 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 Three Rivers 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 Three Rivers sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Three Rivers 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 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.