Official Federal Data
Kent County, Michigan
FIPS 26081 · Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI · Population 663,150
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$82,631 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
4.4% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$60.3B ▲
GDP
40.8% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$82,631 ▲
Per Capita
$42,992 ▲
Mean Household
$109,612 ▲
Poverty Rate
10.1% ▼
Median Income Comparison
Kent County$82,631
Michigan$72,875
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 23.5%
18-34 · 25%
35-54 · 24.8%
55-64 · 11.8%
65+ · 14.9%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
92.3%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +2.7 pts
40.8%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +5.1 pts
14.7%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +0.6 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
663,150
Population
361,558
Labor Force
Employed
346,230
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.4% ▲ +0.5 pts YoY
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
14.3%
Key Takeaways
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 5.1 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 68,533 workers (20% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $68,817.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $60.3B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $108,021 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $26,853, a 4.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Administrative & Support & Waste Management Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
46,186
Cluster Employment
2.03x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
6.53x 5,832
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing
3.75x 7,036
Machinery Manufacturing
2.79x 8,124
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
2.40x 2,859
Hospitals
2.24x 33,427
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
2.17x 10,087
Administrative and Support Services
2.03x 46,186
Paper Manufacturing
1.96x 1,841
Miscellaneous Manufacturing
1.90x 3,112
1.88x 1,153
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.16x
Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
243 employed
0.21x
Air Transportation
316 employed
0.34x
Apparel Manufacturing
71 employed
0.34x
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
309 employed
0.41x
Animal Production and Aquaculture
294 employed
0.41x
Support Activities for Transportation
898 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing concentrates at 6.53x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$289,900 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,243 ▲
Rent/Mo
70.3% ▲
Owner-Occ
4.6% ▼
Vacancy
3.5x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$1,232/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,278/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,531/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,980/mo
4 Bedroom
$2,189/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$2,066/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- High home ownership: 70.3% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
- Affordable rent tiers: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$2,066/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
408,507 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
14.3%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
85.5%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
40.8% ▲
HS Diploma+
92.3% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
52,294/yr
15,687/yr
13,090/yr
7,003/yr
6,722/yr
5,086/yr
4,706/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
19.1%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
43.6%
Service
14.2%
Sales & Office
19.4%
Construction / Maint.
6.3%
Production / Transport
16.6%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 346,230 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Short commutes: 21.0-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 35,780 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Kent County shows strong potential for furniture and related product manufacturing attraction, with a 6.53x concentration and 5,832 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across furniture and related product manufacturing, plastics and rubber products manufacturing, and machinery manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Kent County, Michigan, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Kent County, Michigan?
663,150 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Kent County, Michigan?
$82,631 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Kent County, Michigan?
4.4% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Kent County, Michigan?
$60.3B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
Kent County, MI: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →