Like all states, Michigan has certain places that are going on hard times. These Michigan places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Michigan.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 153 cities in Michigan with more than 5,000 people.
$29,309 median income · 40.9% poverty · #1 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Highland Park, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Michigan thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 8,628 people averages the lowest median household income in Michigan and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$31,117 median income · 40.1% poverty · #2 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Berrien County, Michigan
The second poorest city in Michigan is Benton Harbor.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the highest in the Wolverine State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$39,293 median income · 39.9% poverty · #7 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
Placing as the third poorest city, Hamtramck’s median income ranks as the 7th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 39.9% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Wolverine State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$35,239 median income · 34.1% poverty · #3 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Muskegon County, Michigan
Muskegon Heights ranks as the fourth poorest place in Michigan.
The town ranks as having the 3rd lowest median household income and the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$39,252 median income · 35.2% poverty · #6 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
The fifth poorest city in Michigan is Inkster.
The city ranks as having the 6th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 7th highest in Michigan.
Still not the best news for Inkster.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$37,646 median income · 34.1% poverty · #4 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Genesee County, Michigan
Flint ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Wolverine State.
It ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty and the 3rd highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$41,053 median income · 39.8% poverty · #11 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
River Rouge places as the seventh poorest city in Michigan.
The city of over 7,008 ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$38,579 median income · 34.0% poverty · #5 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Saginaw County, Michigan
Saginaw ranks as the eighth poorest city in Michigan.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$43,456 median income · 40.1% poverty · #13 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Houghton County, Michigan
Houghton couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Michigan; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 13th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Houghton ranks as having the 3rd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Michigan.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$42,185 median income · 39.1% poverty · #12 lowest income in Michigan
Located in
Wayne County, Michigan
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Michigan is Melvindale.
The city of 12,554 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Wolverine State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Michigan’s statewide median.
Michigan statewide median: $72,875
Michigan statewide median: 13.2%
Michigan statewide median: 5.7%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in Michigan
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in Michigan for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 153 places with more than 5,000 people in Michigan, we ranked each place from 1 to 153 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Highland Park, crowned the “Poorest Place In Michigan For 2026”. The median Michigan home is 54 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in Michigan
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highland Park | 1.00 | 8,628 | $29,309 | 40.9% | 18.7% |
| 2 | Benton Harbor | 2.00 | 8,953 | $31,117 | 40.1% | 21.6% |
| 3 | Hamtramck | 5.50 | 27,743 | $39,293 | 39.9% | 13.1% |
| 4 | Muskegon Heights | 5.50 | 9,841 | $35,239 | 34.1% | 14.7% |
| 5 | Inkster | 6.50 | 25,428 | $39,252 | 35.2% | 14.4% |
| 6 | Flint | 7.00 | 80,175 | $37,646 | 34.1% | 14.8% |
| 7 | River Rouge | 8.00 | 7,008 | $41,053 | 39.8% | 11.4% |
| 8 | Saginaw | 8.00 | 43,536 | $38,579 | 34.0% | 10.1% |
| 9 | Houghton | 8.00 | 8,474 | $43,456 | 40.1% | 10.3% |
| 10 | Melvindale | 9.00 | 12,554 | $42,185 | 39.1% | 6.1% |
| 11 | Detroit | 11.00 | 638,530 | $39,938 | 32.7% | 14.0% |
| 12 | Big Rapids | 11.50 | 8,477 | $43,858 | 34.1% | 4.3% |
| 13 | Albion | 12.00 | 7,560 | $39,885 | 25.2% | 13.5% |
| 14 | Ecorse | 12.50 | 9,064 | $40,241 | 29.4% | 8.2% |
| 15 | Mount Pleasant | 15.50 | 21,236 | $44,706 | 31.4% | 7.6% |
| 16 | East Lansing | 16.50 | 45,758 | $45,687 | 33.0% | 6.6% |
| 17 | Muskegon | 18.00 | 37,226 | $44,735 | 24.9% | 9.4% |
| 18 | Jackson | 18.00 | 31,058 | $44,558 | 24.6% | 9.1% |
| 19 | Pontiac | 18.50 | 62,104 | $44,329 | 24.4% | 10.1% |
| 20 | Ypsilanti | 21.00 | 19,857 | $46,588 | 24.8% | 8.5% |
| 21 | Ludington | 24.50 | 7,676 | $46,411 | 22.5% | 3.6% |
| 22 | Kalamazoo | 27.00 | 73,076 | $52,272 | 24.9% | 6.9% |
| 23 | Port Huron | 28.50 | 28,620 | $50,366 | 22.6% | 8.9% |
| 24 | Dowagiac | 28.50 | 5,732 | $48,166 | 21.4% | 8.9% |
| 25 | Hillsdale | 29.00 | 8,002 | $51,038 | 22.9% | 4.4% |
| 26 | Alpena | 29.00 | 10,154 | $47,545 | 21.2% | 6.4% |
| 27 | Springfield | 29.50 | 5,269 | $44,808 | 19.1% | 9.7% |
| 28 | Lapeer | 30.50 | 9,082 | $52,716 | 24.5% | 3.6% |
| 29 | Coldwater | 32.50 | 13,671 | $50,781 | 21.3% | 8.3% |
| 30 | Adrian | 32.50 | 20,395 | $50,209 | 20.3% | 5.3% |
| 31 | Bay City | 33.00 | 32,320 | $49,420 | 19.1% | 6.7% |
| 32 | Escanaba | 33.00 | 12,354 | $45,369 | 17.7% | 5.2% |
| 33 | Alma | 36.50 | 9,396 | $53,307 | 21.7% | 6.9% |
| 34 | Marquette | 38.50 | 21,325 | $55,613 | 22.4% | 4.3% |
| 35 | Cadillac | 39.50 | 10,445 | $51,773 | 18.2% | 5.9% |
| 36 | Niles | 40.00 | 11,803 | $51,376 | 17.8% | 10.8% |
| 37 | Davison | 40.50 | 5,076 | $48,814 | 16.1% | 10.3% |
| 38 | Menominee | 40.50 | 8,326 | $49,432 | 16.4% | 2.7% |
| 39 | Lansing | 40.50 | 113,023 | $54,382 | 20.1% | 8.2% |
| 40 | Ishpeming | 41.00 | 6,181 | $52,754 | 18.7% | 6.4% |
| 41 | Lincoln Park | 41.50 | 39,257 | $58,616 | 21.5% | 8.4% |
| 42 | Three Rivers | 44.00 | 7,943 | $49,503 | 15.0% | 10.2% |
| 43 | Dearborn Heights | 44.00 | 61,771 | $60,391 | 21.9% | 7.9% |
| 44 | Mount Clemens | 46.00 | 15,511 | $52,310 | 16.3% | 6.8% |
| 45 | Sault Ste. Marie | 46.00 | 13,335 | $55,328 | 17.8% | 4.9% |
| 46 | Owosso | 46.50 | 14,632 | $54,229 | 17.2% | 5.5% |
| 47 | Monroe | 47.00 | 20,320 | $59,813 | 19.2% | 7.3% |
| 48 | Center Line | 48.50 | 8,463 | $54,703 | 16.8% | 6.8% |
| 49 | Battle Creek | 48.50 | 52,374 | $55,693 | 17.6% | 7.0% |
| 50 | Dearborn | 51.00 | 107,423 | $65,324 | 24.3% | 6.6% |
| 51 | St. Louis | 52.00 | 7,367 | $51,167 | 13.4% | 2.8% |
| 52 | Taylor | 52.50 | 62,081 | $61,081 | 18.4% | 7.0% |
| 53 | Allegan | 53.00 | 5,172 | $52,925 | 13.9% | 3.7% |
| 54 | Gladstone | 55.00 | 5,253 | $54,970 | 14.1% | 3.9% |
| 55 | Wayne | 55.50 | 17,310 | $59,038 | 15.7% | 10.3% |
| 56 | Burton | 56.50 | 29,500 | $60,052 | 16.1% | 7.1% |
| 57 | Manistee | 56.50 | 6,275 | $60,541 | 16.8% | 6.7% |
| 58 | Eastpointe | 57.50 | 33,982 | $62,325 | 17.5% | 12.9% |
| 59 | Harper Woods | 57.50 | 15,116 | $65,022 | 19.8% | 7.1% |
| 60 | Belding | 58.00 | 5,960 | $60,373 | 15.5% | 5.4% |
| 61 | Iron Mountain | 61.00 | 7,518 | $59,405 | 13.5% | 4.2% |
| 62 | Grand Haven | 61.50 | 10,996 | $60,669 | 14.5% | 1.8% |
| 63 | Hastings | 63.50 | 7,520 | $58,286 | 12.5% | 3.7% |
| 64 | Westland | 63.50 | 83,633 | $62,076 | 14.3% | 6.0% |
| 65 | Zeeland | 66.00 | 5,665 | $52,628 | 10.4% | 2.9% |
| 66 | Warren | 67.00 | 137,928 | $64,016 | 14.8% | 8.0% |
| 67 | Sturgis | 70.00 | 11,054 | $62,710 | 13.4% | 8.4% |
| 68 | Grand Rapids | 70.00 | 198,535 | $69,108 | 16.9% | 5.2% |
| 69 | Eaton Rapids | 70.00 | 5,183 | $63,875 | 13.5% | 1.6% |
| 70 | Roseville | 70.00 | 47,123 | $62,182 | 12.5% | 6.7% |
| 71 | Ann Arbor | 72.25 | 122,036 | $82,212 | 23.8% | 3.9% |
| 72 | Richmond | 73.00 | 5,855 | $64,719 | 13.5% | 11.5% |
| 73 | New Haven | 73.50 | 6,475 | $66,125 | 13.8% | 3.3% |
| 74 | Charlotte | 75.00 | 9,277 | $62,681 | 11.1% | 3.2% |
| 75 | Greenville | 76.00 | 8,995 | $63,285 | 11.5% | 7.4% |
| 76 | Ionia | 76.00 | 12,753 | $63,978 | 12.0% | 1.9% |
| 77 | Romulus | 78.50 | 24,831 | $69,151 | 13.5% | 6.7% |
| 78 | Hazel Park | 80.50 | 14,963 | $67,073 | 12.3% | 5.1% |
| 79 | St. Johns | 81.50 | 7,715 | $68,728 | 12.5% | 4.1% |
| 80 | Kingsford | 82.50 | 5,124 | $61,635 | 9.0% | 6.4% |
| 81 | Utica | 82.50 | 5,180 | $58,718 | 7.5% | 2.2% |
| 82 | Wixom | 83.00 | 17,295 | $65,485 | 10.9% | 3.4% |
| 83 | Fraser | 83.50 | 14,583 | $64,354 | 10.4% | 4.3% |
| 84 | Howell | 84.00 | 10,021 | $60,449 | 7.7% | 3.2% |
| 85 | Wyandotte | 84.00 | 24,489 | $71,987 | 13.0% | 3.5% |
| 86 | Garden City | 86.50 | 26,739 | $67,294 | 10.7% | 8.0% |
| 87 | Oak Park | 87.00 | 29,318 | $71,510 | 12.0% | 10.8% |
| 88 | Madison Heights | 89.50 | 28,419 | $69,503 | 10.8% | 2.8% |
| 89 | Holly | 89.50 | 5,964 | $64,305 | 8.5% | 4.2% |
| 90 | Southgate | 90.00 | 29,366 | $66,118 | 9.4% | 4.2% |
| 91 | Swartz Creek | 90.00 | 5,853 | $71,571 | 10.9% | 0.6% |
| 92 | Traverse City | 90.50 | 15,593 | $74,087 | 12.3% | 5.2% |
| 93 | Woodhaven | 92.00 | 12,690 | $78,648 | 13.0% | 7.2% |
| 94 | Southfield | 92.50 | 76,236 | $68,166 | 10.3% | 6.9% |
| 95 | Walled Lake | 93.50 | 7,299 | $72,055 | 10.5% | 4.0% |
| 96 | Grand Blanc | 94.00 | 7,987 | $68,052 | 9.0% | 2.5% |
| 97 | Wyoming | 95.50 | 77,353 | $73,677 | 10.5% | 4.1% |
| 98 | Midland | 98.00 | 42,724 | $73,325 | 10.3% | 4.1% |
| 99 | Tecumseh | 99.00 | 8,646 | $62,835 | 5.6% | 5.5% |
| 100 | Sterling Heights | 99.00 | 133,573 | $79,909 | 11.1% | 6.1% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 153 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in Michigan for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Michigan, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Michigan.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on Michigan? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
