county

Isabella County, MI

Demographic and economic profile of Isabella County, MI, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Isabella County anchors its economy around Central Michigan University, which drives an unusually young median age of 30.1 years and a 30.8% bachelor's-attainment rate in a county of 65,072 residents. The labor market reflects a student-heavy population, with median worker earnings of just $24,561, a 6.8% unemployment rate, and a 23.2% poverty rate well above typical county benchmarks. Housing costs remain low—median home value of $165,100 and median gross rent of $863/month—though the county has shed 8.9% of its population over the past five years.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

65,072

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$55,237

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

30.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-8.9% since 2018

Isabella County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone54,561 (84.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races2,854 (4.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone1,934 (3.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,616 (2.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,484 (2.3%)
  • Asian Alone1,091 (1.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,101
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic914
  3. 3.Other Indo-European429
  4. 4.Korean201
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)160

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

68.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

13.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,881

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$39,030

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,626

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance9,386
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services4,973
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)3,835
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)3,536
  5. 5.Construction (Group)1,905

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations11,242
  2. 2.Service Occupations6,868
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations6,028
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations5,118
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,502

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.84×)5,099
  2. 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.24×)9,169
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.20×)606
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.10×)3,796
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.09×)793

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$165,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$863/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

61.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9992,283 (14.8%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9992,278 (14.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,417 (9.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,374 (8.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,229 (8.0%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9991,154 (7.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

30.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$24,561

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

19.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone22,619 (73.9%)
  • Carpooled2,967 (9.7%)
  • Worked At Home2,380 (7.8%)
  • Walked2,043 (6.7%)
  • Public Transit230 (0.8%)
  • Bicycle205 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.