Macomb County, MI

County Profile

879,853 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Macomb 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.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 50% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,141st of 1,463 counties measured40
Schools870th of 1,377 counties measured40
GrowthTop 49% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordability842nd of 1,462 counties measured72
Climate1,052nd of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilienceTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured82
Access775th of 1,463 counties measured80
Economic stabilityTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 6.0% and the Opportunity signal places Macomb County in the bottom 22%.

In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.4 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.7 times what its owners earn.

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

Population
879,853
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$77,837
Top 21% nationally
Density
1,836/sq mi
479.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Macomb County
Michigan
Nearest major airport
DTW
39 mi · Detroit Metro Wayne County
Median home value
$243,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.0% — higher than in all but 6% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 424,867 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 71% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$55,36541st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$63,80965th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,0372024 ACS 5-Year$77,837Top 21%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5122024 ACS 5-Year$40,619Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$58,467Top 41%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year10.2%Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.2 minBottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year27.7%Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year76.0%39th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026424,867Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.2%Bottom 15%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026451,87295th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year79.5%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Bottom 19%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.0%Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year13.4%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.22.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.0% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202478k68k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $77,837 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators55,100$49,240
Retail Salespersons48,610$35,130
Home Health and Personal Care Aides46,480$35,120
Registered Nurses44,310$97,280
Fast Food and Counter Workers42,430$29,590
Cashiers37,910$30,090

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.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.4 students for every full-time teacher across 212 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
222
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.4
across 212 of them
Math proficiency
39.2%
Bottom 47% in Michigan
Reading proficiency
49.8%
Bottom 44% in Michigan
The 12 largest of 222 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dakota High SchoolChippewa Valley Schools2,47621.751%65%
Chippewa Valley High SchoolChippewa Valley Schools2,16221.838%53%
Adlai Stevenson High SchoolUtica Community Schools1,88118.152%61%
Romeo High SchoolRomeo Community Schools1,81716.745%68%
Henry Ford II High SchoolUtica Community Schools1,66320.048%66%
Eisenhower High SchoolUtica Community Schools1,62519.856%72%
High School NorthL'Anse Creuse Public Schools1,54521.844%65%
Fraser High SchoolFraser Public Schools1,43113.635%58%
Utica High SchoolUtica Community Schools1,39118.138%60%
Warren Mott High SchoolWarren Consolidated Schools1,33522.320%44%
Lakeview High SchoolLakeview Public Schools (Macomb)1,31922.033%61%
Sterling Heights Senior HSWarren Consolidated Schools1,26218.827%48%

51.6% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.2, 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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division is up 40% over five years, and up 4.4% 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 $3,404 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.40% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,411, some 17% above the $1,211 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,411 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $56,400 a year, about 72% of the median household income here of $77,837.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,211 a month.

A median home at $243,900 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $91,083, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
98.2

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, 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.

Rent as a share of income
30.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,411
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,211
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$243,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Macomb County’s median household income of $77,837, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area’s figure202398.2Bottom 34%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+4.4%68th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+39.6%27th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+91.5%46th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.02024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 41%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%52nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1932024 ACS 5-Year373,41398th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,122Bottom 32%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,724Bottom 35%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,411Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$132024 ACS 5-Year$1,211Bottom 16%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$1,8142024 ACS 5-Year$243,90071st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$262024 ACS 5-Year$3,40489th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,2752024 ACS 5-Year$91,083Top 22%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year1.40%86th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year30.4%Bottom 25%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3212024 ACS 5-Year1,28379th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%7th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%5th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,1002024 ACS 5-Year14,74594th percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

51/ 100
Top 49% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 886,175 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Macomb County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,365, below the $63,809 of households that moved out.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,981
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 41% nationally
Year over year
+28%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
43.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024886k876k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
23%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,365
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$63,809
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Wayne County, MI 10,484 people · 34% of arrivals
  2. Oakland County, MI 8,330 people · 27% of arrivals
  3. St. Clair County, MI 1,662 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  4. Lapeer County, MI 437 people · 1.4% of arrivals
  5. Genesee County, MI 383 people · 1.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Oakland County, MI 8,001 people · 26% of departures
  2. Wayne County, MI 7,525 people · 25% of departures
  3. St. Clair County, MI 2,371 people · 7.8% of departures
  4. Lapeer County, MI 731 people · 2.4% of departures
  5. Genesee County, MI 584 people · 1.9% 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

2020202120222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+21%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.0 inches, including 32.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 42, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MT CLEMENS ANG BASE, 6.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year652024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals35.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals32.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year422024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
42
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
65
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 54% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 83% of measured US counties.

TornadoModerate
Strong windModerate
Ice stormModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, inland flooding, hail, lightning, winter weather, earthquake, hurricane, coastal flooding, wildfire, landslide, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, 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.

Macomb County records 3.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 11.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.6 per 100,000 residents in Macomb County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.7
per 100,000 residents

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 Macomb 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.
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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Detroit Metro Wayne County at 39 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.2%Top 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle39 miBottom 45%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Detroit Metro Wayne CountyDTW39 mi12,003 ft
Mbs IntlMBS84 mi8,002 ft
Capital Region IntlLAN85 mi8,506 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.

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Area Score
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.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
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA 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.

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.