Grand Haven, Michigan

Area Profile

10,996 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Grand Haven, in Ottawa County.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 30% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3355th of 3,904 published cities38
SchoolsTop 12% of 2,668 published cities82
Growth1743rd of 2,973 published cities45
Housing affordabilityTop 40% of 4,223 published cities86
Climate2934th of 4,223 published cities64
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 4,182 published cities95
Access3240th of 4,226 published cities81
Economic stability3430th of 4,226 published cities41
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.1% and the Opportunity signal places Grand Haven in the bottom 14%.

Rent takes 19% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.1 times that income.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Grand Haven in the top 3% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
10,996
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,669
Bottom 40% nationally
Density
1,921/sq mi
5.7 sq mi of land
Median age
46.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ottawa County
Michigan
Metro area
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
Nearest major airport
GRR
37 mi · Gerald R Ford Intl
Median home value
$250,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 59% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 7.4% over the past year, to 146,901 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,523$60,669Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,960$40,528Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.5%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute18.6 minBottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher36.7%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment146,901Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-8.3%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-7.4%Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force153,185Top 34%June 2026
Labor force participation56.7%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,660Bottom 16%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,570Bottom 20%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 14%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 41%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202461k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,669 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 — Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators19,540$39,120
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand18,840$36,130
Registered Nurses13,740$83,920
Fast Food and Counter Workers13,190$28,240
Retail Salespersons12,600$34,800
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners11,490$35,890

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Ottawa County, MI, which contains this city.

54% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 70% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
54.2%
Top 12% in Michigan
Reading proficiency
70.3%
Top 10% in Michigan
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Grand Haven High SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools1,63018.5
White Pines Intermediate SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools74015.443%66%
Lakeshore Middle SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools73315.951%83%
Peach Plains SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools32814.365%65%
Griffin Elementary SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools30814.050%65%
Mary A White SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools26013.755%65%
Rosy Mound SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools24316.284%85%
Ferry SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools23211.045%46%
Robinson SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools22312.470%75%
Central High SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools8911.1
Career Development SchoolGrand Haven Area Public Schools6

35.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Michigan’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $939 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$939
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$250,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.12Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate68.3%Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4236,075Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$89$939Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,365$250,100Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.6%Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.3%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
45/ 100
Ranks 1743 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 11,045 in 2024.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
30
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Top 46% nationally
Year over year
+15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
33.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202411k11k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420254025
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−14%).

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 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.1 inches, including 87.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 41, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 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 MUSKEGON CO AP, 8.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index63.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation35.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall87.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index41.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
63
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

95 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are strong wind, cold wave and heat wave.

Strong windModerate
LightningModerate
Cold waveModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, tornado, hail, winter weather, ice storm, earthquake, landslide, coastal flooding, wildfire, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Ottawa County records 2.2 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 7.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 4.9 per 100,000 residents in Ottawa County.

Homicide
2.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
4.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
10.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Ottawa County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Grand Haven rather than Grand Haven itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 37 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Gerald R Ford IntlGRR37 mi10,001 ft
Battle Creek Exec At Kellogg FldBTL71 mi10,004 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
66
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Other cities in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Grand RapidsKent County198,53561vs Grand Haven
WyomingKent County77,35364vs Grand Haven
KentwoodKent County54,29664vs Grand Haven
Forest HillsKent County28,695vs Grand Haven
AllendaleOttawa County26,679vs Grand Haven
WalkerKent County25,38669vs Grand Haven
CutlervilleKent County18,780vs Grand Haven
JenisonOttawa County17,582vs Grand Haven
GrandvilleKent County16,35666vs Grand Haven
NorthviewKent County15,268vs Grand Haven
IoniaIonia County12,753vs Grand Haven
East Grand RapidsKent County11,445vs Grand Haven

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Grand Haven

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4941733,878$83,40569