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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-UTICA-MI · Utica, MI 5,184 pop · income 28th 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 Utica
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Utica on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hugo · lowest
31,694
Hugo · lowest
31,694 median HH income
17.5% of the leader · rank #1
Happy Valley · near
55,521
Happy Valley · near
55,521 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #2
Wasco · near
55,521
Wasco · near
55,521 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #3
Utica · this city
55,524
Utica · this city
55,524 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #4
Taft Mosswood · near
55,526
Taft Mosswood · near
55,526 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #5
Soudan · near
55,526
Soudan · near
55,526 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #6
Troy Hills · highest
180,618
Troy Hills · highest
180,618 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 Utica 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: 5,184.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Utica - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Utica places in the 28th percentile for household income and the 18th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
28th
percentile, household income
47th
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
18th
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: Utica, MI
Utica is a small town in Michigan, home to 5,184 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $55,524 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.9%. Utica's housing stock carries a median value of $216,800, and the median resident age is 44.8 years. Educational attainment runs 28.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). Utica's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 2829.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not 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. 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 Utica'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 housing and income to population change to reported crime to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Utica, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Utica?
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 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -111 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 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 can the FBI record say about safety in Utica?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2829.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 24% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Utica?
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.
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Allegan (5,182 residents, $42,261 income); Comstock Northwest (5,190 residents, $73,290 income); Eaton Rapids (5,197 residents, $63,618 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Carlyss, LA (5,184 residents); Hugo, OK (5,184 residents); Madisonville, TN (5,184 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Utica?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.6%. 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
80.6%
Work from home
9.4%
Public transit
1.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,504 workers age 16+.
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 28.7% 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
1.9%
Bachelor's degree+
28.7%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
C-
City profile score · Utica, MI
50/100
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.
Poverty rate A
1.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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 C
28.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
314 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$55,524
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Utica profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 86/100 (A) · 1.9%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.7%
Violent crime: 31/100 (F) · 314 /100k
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,524
Where Utica sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Utica'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 - Utica highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Utica, MI (this city): home $216,800, crime 2,829/100k
Hugo, OK : home $96,100, crime 2,481/100k
Madisonville, TN : home $202,600, crime 2,584/100k
Newport, NH : home $191,000, crime 1,008/100k
Allegan, MI : home $161,100, crime 661/100k
Eaton Rapids, MI : home $140,600, crime 1,651/100k
Gladstone, MI : home $111,700, crime 516/100k
Frankenmuth, MI : home $277,600, crime 883/100k
How does Utica compare to other US cities?
Here's how Utica stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value47% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
Safety18% 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: Utica ranks #217 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 Utica 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 Utica near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Utica ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Utica only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#428 of 718
40th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#185 of 721
74th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#615 of 727
15th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#207 of 727
72nd 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
28th percentile nationally for median household income · 18th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Utica's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Utica'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 Utica's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$216,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 53% 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
Utica's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,408 of 15,516
More affordable than 33% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,174 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.9×, Utica sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,408 of 15,516 and #8,174 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
$55,524Utica, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Utica, 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 Utica, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,184
Median Income
$55,524
Median Home Value
$216,800
Median Age
44.8
Poverty Rate
1.9%
Labor force participation
58.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2829.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
314.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2514.7
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
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Utica's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,225 residents
2021
5,180 residents
2022
5,143 residents
2023
5,133 residents
2024
5,114 residents
2025
5,114 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
3
3
0
$0.6M
2022
1
1
0
$0.2M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.6%
Carpool
6.0%
Public Transit
1.2%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
9.4%
Other
1.8%
Based on 2,504 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 Utica. 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 Utica 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 Utica sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Utica 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 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.