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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-WHITMORE-LAKE-MI · Whitmore Lake, MI 8,083 pop · income 59th 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 Whitmore Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Whitmore Lake 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
33.1% of the leader · rank #1
Dupont · near
78,036
Dupont · near
78,036 median HH income
64.3% of the leader · rank #2
Whitmore Lake · this city
78,038
Whitmore Lake · this city
78,038 median HH income
64.3% of the leader · rank #3
Wells · near
78,047
Wells · near
78,047 median HH income
64.3% of the leader · rank #4
Levan · near
78,047
Levan · near
78,047 median HH income
64.3% of the leader · rank #5
Pleasant Run… · near
78,053
Pleasant Run… · near
78,053 median HH income
64.3% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Carmel · highest
121,402
Lake Carmel · highest
121,402 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 Whitmore 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: 8,083.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Whitmore Lake places in the 59th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
59th
percentile, household income
60th
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: Whitmore Lake, MI
8,083 people live in Whitmore Lake, Michigan - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Whitmore Lake households earn a median of $78,038 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.7%. Whitmore Lake's housing stock carries a median value of $270,300, and the median resident age is 37.0 years. Educational attainment runs 38.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 68.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 47.1°F with 34.5 inches of precipitation per year.
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 Whitmore 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 housing and income to climate and hazard context 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 Whitmore Lake, city-specific coverage includes 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, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Whitmore Lake?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.7%, 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Whitmore Lake?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 47.1°F, with 34.5 inches of precipitation. 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Whitmore Lake?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Hillsdale (8,013 residents, $47,817 income); Grand Blanc (7,995 residents, $67,284 income); Three Rivers (7,936 residents, $48,852 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are South San Gabriel, CA (8,084 residents); Alliance, NE (8,089 residents); Lake Carmel, NY (8,090 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 Whitmore Lake?
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 80.8%. 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 Whitmore Lake?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 38.1% 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
1
Bachelor's degree+
38.1%
Poverty estimate
2.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
B-
City profile score · Whitmore Lake, MI
66/100
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B
38.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$78,038
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Whitmore Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 81/100 (A-) · 2.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 72/100 (B) · 38.1%
Household income: 57/100 (C) · $78,038
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
How does Whitmore Lake compare to other US cities?
Here's how Whitmore Lake stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income59% higher than other cities
Home value60% 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 Whitmore 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 Whitmore Lake near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Whitmore Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Whitmore Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#152 of 718
79th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#99 of 721
86th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#582 of 727
20th percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#133 of 727
82nd 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
59th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Whitmore Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$270,30040th percentilemore affordable than 40% 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
Whitmore Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,830 of 15,516
More affordable than 43% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,143 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.5×, Whitmore Lake sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,830 of 15,516 and #7,143 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
$78,038Whitmore Lake, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Whitmore 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 Whitmore Lake, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)38.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,083
Median Income
$78,038
Median Home Value
$270,300
Median Age
37.0
Poverty Rate
2.7%
Labor force participation
68.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
38.1%
Climate
Avg Temperature
47.1°F
Annual Precipitation
34.5"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.8%
Carpool
4.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
13.8%
Based on 4,474 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 Whitmore 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 Whitmore 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 Whitmore Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Whitmore 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.