county

Alpena County, MI

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

AI Overview

Alpena County is a small northern Michigan county of roughly 28,900 residents with an economy rooted in manufacturing and regional services, reflecting a largely homegrown workforce where foreign-born residents account for just 1.3% of the population. The labor pool skews older, with a median age of 47.8, and only 17.7% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, though high school attainment reaches 93.1%; labor force participation is low at 53.7% and unemployment sits at 7.1%. Housing costs are well below national norms—median home values at $137,800 and median gross rent at $660/month—while median worker earnings of $31,525 and a poverty rate of 17.0% point to a cost-constrained but affordable operating environment.

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

Population

28,908

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$53,950

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

47.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.0% since 2018

Alpena County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone26,743 (92.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race968 (3.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races632 (2.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone291 (1.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone168 (0.6%)
  • Asian Alone53 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic322
  2. 2.Spanish168
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)71
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic54
  5. 5.Other Indo-European33

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

24.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,310

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$38,227

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,093

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

7.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,065
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,651
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,510
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,319
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services950

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,045
  2. 2.Service Occupations2,668
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations2,200
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,025
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,272

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.51×)289
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.27×)1,517
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.25×)1,314
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.21×)684
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.13×)933

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$137,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$660/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

80.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,9991,309 (12.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,246 (12.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999973 (9.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999949 (9.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999818 (7.9%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999721 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$31,525

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

17.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone9,234 (77.3%)
  • Worked At Home928 (7.8%)
  • Carpooled854 (7.2%)
  • Other376 (3.1%)
  • Walked268 (2.2%)
  • Public Transit126 (1.1%)

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.