How Much You Need To Live Comfortably in 25 Michigan Cities

Whether you have plans to start a family or want to relocate in retirement, many Americans move to Michigan to enjoy the state’s recreational offerings, thriving culture and low cost of living. You may even decide to move to a Michigan city where modest monthly earnings provide you with a comfortable lifestyle.

To determine how much you need to earn to live comfortably, GOBankingRates found the 150 most populated Michigan cities and sourced several factors from the US Census American Community Survey including the city’s total population, total households and median household income. Additional factors sourced include the average single family home value, average mortgage and livability index. From there, GOBankingRates sorted the cities by population.

With cities ranked from the least to highest populations, here’s how much you need to earn to live comfortably in these 25 Michigan cities.

• Total households: 20,370
• Total population: 48,936
• Median household income: $74,837
• Livability: 80
• Average home value (January 2024): $265,242
• Average mortgage cost: $1,559
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,900
• Monthly cost of living: $3,459

• Total households: 21,140
• Total population: 52,469
• Median household income: $49,684
• Livability: 73
• Average home value (January 2024): $153,598
• Average mortgage cost: $903
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,917
• Monthly cost of living: $2,820

• Total households: 21,480
• Total population: 54,042
• Median household income: $66,945
• Livability: 73
• Average home value (January 2024): $300,901
• Average mortgage cost: $1,769
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,875
• Monthly cost of living: $3,644

• Total households: 28,986
• Total population: 58,053
• Median household income: $92,799
• Livability: 82
• Average home value (January 2024): $307,445
• Average mortgage cost: $1,808
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,999
• Monthly cost of living: $3,806

• Total households: 27,295
• Total population: 58,656
• Median household income: $71,481
• Livability: 79
• Average home value (January 2024): $212,246
• Average mortgage cost: $1,248
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,083
• Monthly cost of living: $3,331

• Total households: 25,343
• Total population: 61,965
• Median household income: $40,307
• Livability: 64
• Average home value (January 2024): $111,440
• Average mortgage cost: $655
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,064
• Monthly cost of living: $2,719

• Total households: 22,070
• Total population: 62,474
• Median household income: $58,335
• Livability: 79
• Average home value (January 2024): $183,686
• Average mortgage cost: $1,080
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,145
• Monthly cost of living: $3,225

• Total households: 24,816
• Total population: 62,937
• Median household income: $59,352
• Livability: 77
• Average home value (January 2024): $158,578
• Average mortgage cost: $932
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,066
• Monthly cost of living: $2,998

• Total households: 26,516
• Total population: 65,870
• Median household income: $110,588
• Livability: 85
• Average home value (January 2024): $489,508
• Average mortgage cost: $2,878
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,048
• Monthly cost of living: $4,926

• Total households: 29,111
• Total population: 73,342
• Median household income: $48,649
• Livability: 75
• Average home value (January 2024): $215,201
• Average mortgage cost: $1,265
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,885
• Monthly cost of living: $3,150

• Total households: 28,988
• Total population: 76,041
• Median household income: $115,968
• Livability: 76
• Average home value (January 2024): $432,696
• Average mortgage cost: $2,544
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,044
• Monthly cost of living: $4,588

• Total households: 34,404
• Total population: 76,107
• Median household income: $63,980
• Livability: 71
• Average home value (January 2024): $256,976
• Average mortgage cost: $1,511
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,039
• Monthly cost of living: $3,549

• Total households: 28,544
• Total population: 76,732
• Median household income: $67,234
• Livability: 76
• Average home value (January 2024): $252,715
• Average mortgage cost: $1,486
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,885
• Monthly cost of living: $3,371

• Total households: 33,854
• Total population: 81,863
• Median household income: $35,451
• Livability: 74
• Average home value (January 2024): $53,047
• Average mortgage cost: $312
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,845
• Monthly cost of living: $2,157

• Total households: 35,366
• Total population: 83,562
• Median household income: $101,728
• Livability: 80
• Average home value (January 2024): $369,597
• Average mortgage cost: $2,173
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,059
• Monthly cost of living: $4,232

• Total households: 35,286
• Total population: 84,806
• Median household income: $59,930
• Livability: 75
• Average home value (January 2024): $191,927
• Average mortgage cost: $1,128
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,954
• Monthly cost of living: $3,082

• Total households: 33,000
• Total population: 87,170
• Median household income: $115,639
• Livability: 77
• Average home value (January 2024): $414,200
• Average mortgage cost: $2,435
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,055
• Monthly cost of living: $4,490

• Total households: 37,789
• Total population: 94,928
• Median household income: $92,458
• Livability: 75
• Average home value (January 2024): $279,787
• Average mortgage cost: $1,645
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,980
• Monthly cost of living: $3,625

• Total households: 35,968
• Total population: 108,414
• Median household income: $64,600
• Livability: 77
• Average home value (January 2024): $211,176
• Average mortgage cost: $1,242
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,947
• Monthly cost of living: $3,188

• Total households: 50,137
• Total population: 112,986
• Median household income: $50,747
• Livability: 78
• Average home value (January 2024): $137,710
• Average mortgage cost: $810
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,928
• Monthly cost of living: $2,738

• Total households: 50,110
• Total population: 122,216
• Median household income: $78,546
• Livability: 89
• Average home value (January 2024): $504,038
• Average mortgage cost: $2,963
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $2,105
• Monthly cost of living: $5,069

• Total households: 50,989
• Total population: 133,744
• Median household income: $75,381
• Livability: 73
• Average home value (January 2024): $283,746
• Average mortgage cost: $1,668
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,946
• Monthly cost of living: $3,614

• Total households: 54,483
• Total population: 138,588
• Median household income: $61,633
• Livability: 73
• Average home value (January 2024): $189,559
• Average mortgage cost: $1,114
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,912
• Monthly cost of living: $3,026

• Total households: 79,009
• Total population: 198,096
• Median household income: $61,634
• Livability: 83
• Average home value (January 2024): $258,042
• Average mortgage cost: $1,517
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,890
• Monthly cost of living: $3,407

• Total households: 249,518
• Total population: 636,787
• Median household income: $37,761
• Livability: 73
• Average home value (January 2024): $67,388
• Average mortgage cost: $396
• Average monthly expenditure cost: $1,900
• Monthly cost of living: $2,296

Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned in the article was used.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities across Michigan to find how much someone needs to earn to live comfortably in cities across Michigan. GOBankingRates started by finding the 150 most populated cities in Michigan as sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. For each city on the list a number of factors were found including; total population, total households, and median household income, all sourced from the US Census American Community Survey, the cost of living indexes as sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces, average single family home value as sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index, the average mortgage, calculated using the National 30-year Fixed Rate Average Mortgage as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, and the livability index as sourced from AreaVibes. The cities were sorted by population from most to least populated city to find the average amount needed to live comfortably in the major Michigan cities. All the data was collected on and is up to date as of April 8, 2024.