county

Bay County, MI

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

AI Overview

Bay County is a mid-sized Michigan county of 103,235 residents with a manufacturing and industrial economic base, reflected in median worker earnings of $38,869 and a GDP per capita of $35,732. The workforce skews older (median age 43.9) with relatively modest educational attainment—21.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—and labor force participation sits at 59.1% against an unemployment rate of 4.6%. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $135,100 and median gross rent of $809/month, though the county posted a -1.5% population decline over the past five years and carries a 14.0% poverty rate.

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

Population

102,651

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$61,763

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone93,440 (90.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races3,914 (3.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,535 (2.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,234 (1.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,070 (1.0%)
  • Asian Alone525 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,155
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic267
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic192
  4. 4.Other Indo-European163
  5. 5.Korean101

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

6,218

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$35,732

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,858

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance13,142
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)8,110
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)6,655
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services4,238
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services3,511

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations16,304
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations10,726
  3. 3.Service Occupations8,871
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations8,136
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations4,423

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.75×)8,363
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.26×)6,620
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.12×)12,597
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.12×)2,538
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.00×)4,211

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$135,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$809/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,9994,406 (12.7%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9994,290 (12.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9994,067 (11.7%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,784 (8.0%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9992,733 (7.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9992,337 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

21.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,869

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone39,060 (82.1%)
  • Worked At Home4,104 (8.6%)
  • Carpooled3,153 (6.6%)
  • Walked591 (1.2%)
  • Other341 (0.7%)
  • Bicycle212 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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More on FDI Connect

Compare Bay County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

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