county

Hillsdale County, MI

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

AI Overview

Hillsdale County is a small, rural Michigan county of 45,658 residents with a predominantly blue-collar workforce—only 20.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings stand at $35,680 against a median household income of $64,242. The labor force participation rate is relatively low at 57.2%, with a 4.5% unemployment rate, and the county's population has edged down 0.4% over five years. Housing costs remain well below national norms, with a median home value of $170,500 and median gross rent of $801/month, supported by an 82.0% homeownership rate that reflects the area's established, owner-occupant character.

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

Population

45,658

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$64,242

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.4% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone42,662 (93.4%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,096 (2.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,090 (2.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone340 (0.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone318 (0.7%)
  • Asian Alone117 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic1,065
  2. 2.Spanish315
  3. 3.Other Indo-European104
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)69
  5. 5.Arabic31

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,594

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$40,152

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,996

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance5,405
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)4,162
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,642
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,293
  5. 5.Construction (Group)1,187

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations6,361
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,552
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,859
  4. 4.Service Occupations3,262
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,154

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.14×)4,318
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.98×)641
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.17×)5,532
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.16×)2,550
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 0.92×)1,084

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$170,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$801/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

82.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,762 (12.0%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,591 (10.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,555 (10.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,417 (9.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,267 (8.7%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,131 (7.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

20.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

57.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$35,680

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone15,209 (76.8%)
  • Carpooled1,786 (9.0%)
  • Worked At Home1,610 (8.1%)
  • Walked874 (4.4%)
  • Other156 (0.8%)
  • Bicycle126 (0.6%)

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.