Income gap between Michigan, nation widens. Blame education

Michigan’s median household income remains in the bottom half of states — and the gap behind the national average is widening
Education drives the gap, with Michigan bachelor’s attainment at 33.3% ranking 33rd in nation
The data also shows wide county disparities: Livingston was tops at $99,741 while ten counties sit in the bottom quartile of the nation

Michigan remains in the bottom half of states for most economic and educational metrics, according to new Census data that shows a widening income gap between the state and the rest of the nation.

Median household income in Michigan was $72,389 in 2024, ranking 37th in the nation, well below the national median of $81,604, according to the data released Thursday morning by the US Census Bureau.

Age

The gap between the state and national median incomes has more than doubled since 2014, when it was just $3,810.

“It’s education. It’s the driver,” said Kurt Metzger, former director of Data Driven Detroit and a demography consultant to the city of Detroit.

College graduates make substantially more than non-grads — median earnings in 2024 for college grads in Michigan were about $66,500, compared to $38,400 for a high school grad.

Michigan lags the nation in the percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree. In 2024, that rate was 33.3% in Michigan, compared to 36.8% nationally. Michigan’s college-grad rate ranks 33rd, largely mirroring its income rank.

In the top state, Massachusetts, nearly half of adults (48.3%) have a college degree. And the median household income in Massachusetts was $104,828 — 45% higher than Michigan. Its income is the nation’s highest.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pushed to increase rates of college graduation and skills certifications, setting a goal of 60% of adults by 2030. So far, 51.8% of adults have either a degree or skills certificate.

The latest data comes from the annual American Community Survey, a rich trove of information gleaned from 3.5 million surveys mailed to households across the country that asks about demography, education, income and housing.

But because it’s a survey, the Census only releases data for states and townships, cities, counties with at least 65,000 people. In Michigan, that includes the 31 largest counties, the 17 largest cities and a handful of townships.

Income

Of the Michigan counties, Livingston had the highest median household income at $99,741, ranked 136th out of 840 counties nationwide. Oakland County was ranked a few slots lower, 144th, at $98,709.

Michigan had 10 of its 31 counties ranked in the bottom quartile, including Montcalm, Jackson, Ingham, Calhoun, Bay, Genesee, Saginaw, Muskegon, Wayne and Isabella counties.

Poverty

Statewide in 2024, 13.4% of people were below the poverty line, considered $15,940 for a single person or $32,130 for a family of 4. That’s nearly identical to the 13.5% in poverty in 2023. Nationally, the poverty rate fell from 12.5% in 2023 to 12.1% last year.

Poverty rose in Detroit, from 31.9% in 2023 to 34.5% in 2024 while median household income, when adjusted for inflation, was up about $200 over 2023 levels to $39,209.

Population increases

Although the American Community Survey is best used to determine demographics, it did show Detroit’s population nudged up in each of the past two years, echoing earlier findings by the Census that last May showed the first increases in decades to 645,705.

Driving those increases are gains in the percentage of white, Hispanic and Asian residents, the data shows. Non-Hispanic whites comprise nearly 12% of the city’s population, the highest percentage in decades and up from 10.8% in 2023.

The state’s median age, 40.4 years, actually fell, but barely. It was 40.5 years in 2023. The state is the 15th oldest in the nation. The national median is 39.2 years.

The state is close to having just as many people 65 or older as are under 18. Currently, 19.7% are 65 or older, 20.7% aren’t old enough to vote. Only 14 states have an older population imbalance.

Nationally, that ratio is 18% to 21%.