South Lyon, Michigan

Area Profile

11,950 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for South Lyon, in Oakland County.

70out of 100
Area Score
Top 15% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity2,526th of 4,199 cities measured52
SchoolsTop 18% of 4,162 cities measured75
GrowthTop 49% of 4,224 cities measured51
Housing affordabilityTop 17% of 4,218 cities measured78
Climate3,072nd of 4,225 cities measured63
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 4,226 cities measured95
Access2,301st of 4,226 cities measured91
Economic stabilityTop 11% of 4,226 cities measured76
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $92,467, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Oakland County, MI, which contains South Lyon, rather than for South Lyon alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 58% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 18% of published profiles for schools.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 28% of renter income 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
11,950
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$92,467
Top 23% nationally
Density
3,194/sq mi
3.7 sq mi of land
Median age
41.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Michigan
Nearest major airport
DTW
23 mi · Detroit Metro Wayne County
Median home value
$294,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Oakland County, MI, which contains South Lyon, is 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Oakland County, MI, which contains South Lyon, fell 0.5% over the past year, to 656,029 employed residents.

47% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$13,2492024 ACS 5-Year$92,467Top 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,6382024 ACS 5-Year$50,721Top 17%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%Top 20%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.8 minBottom 20%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year47.2%Top 13%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year77.0%49th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentOakland County, MI’s figureJuly 2026656,029Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Oakland County, MI’s figureJuly 2026−2.7%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Oakland County, MI’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 46%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceOakland County, MI’s figureJuly 2026688,76389th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year84.7%Top 25%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$69,210Top 48%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageDetroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$52,080Top 44%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Oakland County, MI’s figureJuly 2026+0.3%Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateOakland County, MI’s figureJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.2%79th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202492k79k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $92,467 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.

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

58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.1 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.1
across 10 of them
Math proficiency
58.4%
Top 12% in Michigan
Reading proficiency
66.5%
Top 14% in Michigan
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
South Lyon High SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools1,24517.372%79%
South Lyon East High SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools1,17419.959%75%
Millennium Middle SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools1,04920.664%67%
Centennial Middle SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools89819.155%60%
William A Pearson ElementarySouth Lyon Community Schools57618.055%63%
Sharon J Hardy Elementary SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools57014.661%64%
Kent Lake Elementary SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools51817.350%55%
Frank E Bartlett SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools48317.944%60%
William A Brummer Elementary SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools46917.454%65%
Sayre Elementary SchoolSouth Lyon Community Schools45016.743%51%
Special EducationSouth Lyon Community Schools1———

15.9% 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.

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.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,044 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.37% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,450, some 11% above the $1,310 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,450 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $58,000 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $92,467.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,310 a month.

A median home at $294,600 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $110,272, 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
27.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,450
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,310
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against South Lyon’s median household income of $92,467, 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 figure202398.2Top 37%of 3,7002023
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 44%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.3%61st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2702024 ACS 5-Year5,15589th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,190Top 36%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,840Top 36%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,450Top 37%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$1,310Bottom 27%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,6872024 ACS 5-Year$294,60071st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3642024 ACS 5-Year$4,04483rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,4982024 ACS 5-Year$110,272Top 20%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.15%2024 ACS 5-Year1.37%72nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.5%Top 45%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±182024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%30th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1202024 ACS 5-Year17976th percentileof 32,3302024 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 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 4% since 2020, reaching 12,219 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 26 units authorized in 2025, against 14 the year before.

65% of the 23 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
23
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
+130%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
65.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202412k12k
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 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420256814
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−56%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 20°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.2 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, 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 DETROIT WILLOW RUN AP, 16.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year702024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals30.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals48°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
70
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. 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

95 / 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 48% 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 97% of measured US cities.

Strong windElevated
TornadoModerate
Ice stormModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

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.

Violent crime
49
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
348
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

South Lyon's police department reported 49 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 348.

Oakland County records 3.1 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 7.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.5 per 100,000 residents in Oakland County.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.7
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by South Lyon’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around South Lyon (Oakland County) rather than South Lyon itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 Detroit Metro Wayne County at 23 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year94.1%Top 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle23 miBottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%Top 37%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Detroit Metro Wayne CountyDTW23 mi12,003 ft
Capital Region IntlLAN52 mi8,506 ft
Eugene F Kranz Toledo ExpressTOL61 mi10,600 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
70
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—

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Other cities in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DetroitWayne County638,53047Detroit vs South Lyon
WarrenMacomb County137,92852Warren vs South Lyon
Sterling HeightsMacomb County133,57361Sterling Heights vs South Lyon
DearbornWayne County107,42351
LivoniaWayne County93,85168
TroyOakland County87,89872
WestlandWayne County83,63351
Farmington HillsOakland County83,51565
Rochester HillsOakland County77,08969
SouthfieldOakland County76,23656
NoviOakland County66,71772
PontiacOakland County62,10453

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.

Compare

Put South Lyon side by side with a similar place.

South Lyon vs RochesterSouth Lyon vs Hewitt

Moving to South Lyon from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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
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 codes in South Lyon

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in South Lyon with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4817837,789$131,558$410,50070