Waverly, Michigan

Area Profile

23,575 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Waverly, in Eaton County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3250th of 3,904 published cities39
Schools1759th of 2,668 published cities39
Housing affordabilityTop 13% of 4,223 published cities98
Climate3450th of 4,223 published cities61
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 4,182 published cities83
AccessTop 8% of 4,226 published cities99
Economic stabilityTop 44% of 4,226 published cities63
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Waverly in the bottom 17%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 19% of median household income and the median home is 3.1 times it.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Waverly in the top 19% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
23,575
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,700
Top 38% nationally
Density
2,590/sq mi
9.1 sq mi of land
Median age
41.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Eaton County
Michigan
Metro area
Lansing-East Lansing, MI
Nearest major airport
LAN
4 mi · Capital Region Intl
Median home value
$234,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 48% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 8.1% over the past year, to 50,148 employed residents.

44% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,522$75,700Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,817$47,266Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate10.1%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.1 minBottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher44.1%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment50,148Top 50%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-7.6%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-8.1%Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force52,435Top 50%June 2026
Labor force participation64.1%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$65,450Bottom 34%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$52,800Top 42%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 15%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 48%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202476k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,700 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 — Lansing-East Lansing, MI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators6,170$55,120
Office Clerks, General4,830$45,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,810$28,640
Retail Salespersons4,750$33,840
General and Operations Managers4,470$119,140
Business Operations Specialists, All Other4,360$82,940

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 Eaton County, MI, which contains this city.

25% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.3 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
25.1%
Bottom 37% in Michigan
Reading proficiency
41.0%
Bottom 40% in Michigan
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Waverly Senior High SchoolWaverly Community Schools98721.5
Windemere Park Charter Academy · charterWindemere Park Charter Academy58015.721%36%
Delta Center Elementary SchoolGrand Ledge Public Schools52817.638%47%
Waverly Middle SchoolWaverly Community Schools45118.030%90%
East Intermediate SchoolWaverly Community Schools42915.310%10%
Winans Elementary SchoolWaverly Community Schools39214.525%25%
Elmwood Elementary SchoolWaverly Community Schools37915.225%35%
Meryl S Colt Early Childhood Education CenterWaverly Community Schools1848.4
SAIL WaverlyIngham ISD99.0
Eaton RESA Career Preparation CenterEaton RESA0

58.7% 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 $1,170 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,170
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$234,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.10Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate55.7%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±40011,742Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$32$1,170Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,551$234,600Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.5%Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.2%Bottom 20%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 →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 33.3 inches, including 50.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LANSING CAPITAL CITY AP, 4.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation33.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall50.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, strong wind and hail.

Strong windHigh
TornadoElevated
HailModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, ice storm, cold wave, winter weather, earthquake, lightning, landslide, hurricane, wildfire.

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.

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.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source 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. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
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

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Capital Region IntlLAN4 mi8,506 ft
Battle Creek Exec At Kellogg FldBTL43 mi10,004 ft
Gerald R Ford IntlGRR46 mi10,001 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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Other cities in Lansing-East Lansing, MI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
LansingIngham County113,02352vs Waverly
East LansingIngham County45,75855vs Waverly
OkemosIngham County26,396vs Waverly
HoltIngham County25,316vs Waverly
HaslettIngham County18,559vs Waverly

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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
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)
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

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 Waverly

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4891732,483$70,990