Calhoun County, MI
County Profile
133,778 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Calhoun County, MI.
Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places Calhoun County in the bottom 3%.
In the public schools here, 29% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.9 students for every teacher.
117 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 5.8% — higher than in all but 9% of the 1,467 measured US counties.
Employment fell 6.6% over the past year, to 56,809 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023 | $48,780 | 18th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023 | $51,446 | 28th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$2,1072024 ACS 5-Year | $63,177 | Bottom 45%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$9012024 ACS 5-Year | $34,349 | Bottom 47%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per-capita personal income2023 | $47,815 | Bottom 16%of 1,389 | 2023 |
| Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 13.5% | Bottom 46%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 22.0 min | Top 25%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 22.9% | Top 47%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 79.9% | 68th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 56,809 | Top 36%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | −4.8% | Bottom 7%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | −6.6% | Bottom 1%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 60,328 | 64th percentileof 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year | 76.0% | Top 48%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.3% | 59th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.9% | Top 13%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 5.8% | Bottom 9%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.1% | 45th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Battle Creek, MI
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 2,710 | $49,100 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 1,500 | $28,100 |
| Registered Nurses | 1,480 | $97,520 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 1,440 | $36,130 |
| Cashiers | 1,390 | $30,280 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,130 | $32,460 |
Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
29% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 15.9 students for every full-time teacher across 49 public schools, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeview High School | Lakeview Sch. District (Calhoun) | 1,241 | 19.1 | 38% | 58% |
| Lakeview Middle School | Lakeview Sch. District (Calhoun) | 1,082 | 15.9 | 36% | 45% |
| Battle Creek Central High School | Battle Creek Public Schools | 978 | 17.2 | 9% | 27% |
| Harper Creek Middle School | Harper Creek Community Schools | 896 | 18.3 | 32% | 46% |
| Harper Creek High School | Harper Creek Community Schools | 823 | 18.7 | 22% | 52% |
| Marshall High School | Marshall Public Schools | 787 | 21.9 | 47% | 72% |
| Pennfield Senior High School | Pennfield Schools | 748 | 22.7 | 32% | 57% |
| Endeavor Charter Academy · charter | Endeavor Charter Academy | 648 | 18.5 | 24% | 31% |
| Marshall Middle School | Marshall Public Schools | 541 | 15.0 | 31% | 42% |
| Springfield Middle School | Battle Creek Public Schools | 472 | 14.8 | 12% | 26% |
| Pennfield Middle School | Pennfield Schools | 471 | 19.6 | 29% | 38% |
| Valley View Elementary School | Battle Creek Public Schools | 434 | 14.5 | 19% | 18% |
55.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Michigan’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Battle Creek, MI Metro Area is up 49% over five years, and up 8.9% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.
Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,368 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.45% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,176, some 21% above the $968 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,176 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,000 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $63,177.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $968 a month.
A median home at $162,800 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $75,078, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Battle Creek, MI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.
The figures above are measured against Calhoun County’s median household income of $63,177, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Battle Creek, MI Metro Area’s figure2023 | 88.2 | Top 9%of 887 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Battle Creek, MI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +8.9% | 99th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Battle Creek, MI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +48.7% | 66th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Battle Creek, MI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +112.7% | 80th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year | 2.2 | Top 31%of 3,217 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 72.7% | 40th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±872024 ACS 5-Year | 59,602 | 85th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $976 | Bottom 48%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,410 | Top 39%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,176 | Top 50%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$262024 ACS 5-Year | $968 | Bottom 35%of 3,215 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$2,8822024 ACS 5-Year | $162,800 | 39th percentileof 3,219 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$572024 ACS 5-Year | $2,368 | 73rd percentileof 3,172 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$2,4852024 ACS 5-Year | $75,078 | Bottom 47%of 3,218 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.45% | 88th percentileof 3,126 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.3% | Bottom 34%of 3,216 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±2392024 ACS 5-Year | 937 | 73rd percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.6% | 36th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.9% | 49th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±5392024 ACS 5-Year | 6,269 | 84th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 133,785 in 2024.
Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 118 units authorized in 2025, 11% below the prior year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 117 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Calhoun County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $48,780, below the $51,446 of households that moved out.
At 0.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Kalamazoo County, MI 929 people · 18% of arrivals
- Jackson County, MI 366 people · 7.2% of arrivals
- Branch County, MI 322 people · 6.4% of arrivals
- Barry County, MI 295 people · 5.8% of arrivals
- Eaton County, MI 262 people · 5.2% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Kalamazoo County, MI 848 people · 17% of departures
- Jackson County, MI 350 people · 7.0% of departures
- Branch County, MI 247 people · 4.9% of departures
- Eaton County, MI 236 people · 4.7% of departures
- Barry County, MI 185 people · 3.7% of departures
Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 17°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 31.5 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 31.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 17°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 83°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 48°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.
Overall hazard risk is lower than 92% of measured US counties.
Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, cold wave, ice storm, winter weather, earthquake, landslide, lightning, hurricane, wildfire, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Calhoun County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 18.0 per 100,000 residents in Calhoun County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.
Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Calhoun County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Air quality
- The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Battle Creek Exec At Kellogg Fld at 13 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year | 89.6% | Top 29%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 13 mi | Top 14%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 6 | Top 13%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.8% | Top 38%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battle Creek Exec At Kellogg Fld | BTL | 13 mi | 10,004 ft |
| Capital Region Intl | LAN | 43 mi | 8,506 ft |
| Gerald R Ford Intl | GRR | 51 mi | 10,001 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
Customize your score
What matters to you?
Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.
Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing, Income | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.
Cities in Calhoun County, MI
ZIP areas
Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.