Sturgis, Michigan
Area Profile
11,054 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sturgis, in St. Joseph County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Sturgis in the bottom 1%. The unemployment rate is published for St. Joseph County, MI, which contains Sturgis, rather than for Sturgis alone.
In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.7 students for every teacher.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 24% of renter income and the median home is 1.8 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across St. Joseph County, MI, which contains Sturgis, is 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across St. Joseph County, MI, which contains Sturgis, fell 6.6% over the past year, to 25,398 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsSt. Joseph County, MI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $57,271 | 21st percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftSt. Joseph County, MI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $49,760 | 6th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$7,0192024 ACS 5-Year | $62,710 | Bottom 44%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,8642024 ACS 5-Year | $30,297 | Bottom 38%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 12.1% | Bottom 45%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±2.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.0 min | Top 14%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 15.7% | Bottom 37%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 66.2% | 20th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentSt. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | 25,398 | Bottom 30%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)St. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | −9.2% | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)St. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | −6.6% | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceSt. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | 26,888 | 31st percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 77.3% | Bottom 47%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.1% | 74th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)St. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.2% | Top 7%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateSt. Joseph County, MI’s figureJuly 2026 | 5.5% | Bottom 12%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 5.5% | 39th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for St. Joseph County, MI, which contains this city.
26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 17.7 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgis High School | Sturgis Public Schools | 882 | 18.0 | 27% | 47% |
| Eastwood School | Sturgis Public Schools | 642 | 18.3 | 26% | 35% |
| Sturgis Middle School | Sturgis Public Schools | 634 | 19.8 | 22% | 40% |
| Wall School | Sturgis Public Schools | 292 | 14.6 | — | — |
| Nottawa Community School | Nottawa Community School | 189 | 15.8 | 37% | 47% |
| Congress School | Sturgis Public Schools | 162 | 14.7 | — | — |
| Wenzel School | Sturgis Public Schools | 148 | 18.5 | — | — |
67.2% 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 →The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Michigan is up 58% over five years, and up 5.6% 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 $1,879 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.23% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,019, some 23% above the $826 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,019 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $40,800 a year, about 65% of the median household income here of $62,710.
The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $826 a month.
A median home at $152,600 costs 1.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $83,511, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against Sturgis’s median household income of $62,710, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Michigan’s figure2026 Q2 | +5.6% | 83rd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Michigan’s figure2026 Q2 | +57.9% | 93rd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Michigan’s figure2026 Q2 | +119.4% | 86th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year | 1.8 | Top 26%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 61.6% | 23rd percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±2192024 ACS 5-Year | 4,864 | 88th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $777 | Top 6%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,380 | Top 12%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,019 | Top 9%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$892024 ACS 5-Year | $826 | Top 32%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$9,8562024 ACS 5-Year | $152,600 | 38th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1792024 ACS 5-Year | $1,879 | 53rd percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$10,1532024 ACS 5-Year | $83,511 | Top 44%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.23% | 65th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 23.6% | Top 27%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±592024 ACS 5-Year | 58 | 84th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.2% | 63rd percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.5% | 57th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1642024 ACS 5-Year | 470 | 89th percentileof 32,330 | 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.
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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 11,030 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 11 units authorized in 2025, against 4 the year before.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 12 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 St. Joseph County, which contains Sturgis, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $57,271, above the $49,760 of households that moved out.
At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Kalamazoo County, MI 427 people · 18% of arrivals
- Elkhart County, IN 223 people · 9.5% of arrivals
- LaGrange County, IN 205 people · 8.7% of arrivals
- Cass County, MI 189 people · 8.0% of arrivals
- Branch County, MI 150 people · 6.4% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Kalamazoo County, MI 394 people · 17% of departures
- Branch County, MI 206 people · 8.9% of departures
- Elkhart County, IN 175 people · 7.5% of departures
- Cass County, MI 169 people · 7.3% of departures
- LaGrange County, IN 159 people · 6.8% 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. This is the figure for St. Joseph County, MI. 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 18°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 34.6 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 34.6" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 18°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 cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 60% of it. Inland flooding and tornado 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 71% of measured US cities.
Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, lightning, inland flooding, tornado, drought, earthquake, landslide, ice storm, winter weather, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, coastal flooding, 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.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Sturgis's police department reported 445 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,300.
St. Joseph County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.8 per 100,000 residents in St. Joseph 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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Sturgis’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 Sturgis (St. Joseph County) rather than Sturgis 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.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 36 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 88.7% | Bottom 45%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 36 mi | Bottom 22%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 6 | Top 27%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.7% | Top 46%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battle Creek Exec At Kellogg Fld | BTL | 36 mi | 10,004 ft |
| South Bend Intl | SBN | 47 mi | 8,412 ft |
| Gerald R Ford Intl | GRR | 75 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.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| 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 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending 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 |
| 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.
ZIP codes in Sturgis
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Sturgis with census figures of its own, largest first.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49091 | 19,337 | $67,333 | $182,600 | 51 |