Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Ann Arbor ranks 55th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 53rd for income. A household earns $90,523 a year while median rent runs $1,554/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is education (2nd of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (237th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 220th and home prices 213th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Ann Arbor, your take-home is worth about $57,619 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 53rd of 300↑18.2%$90,523
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 237th of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $89,733
- Per-capita income
- $51,936
- Full-time pay
- $44,478
Housing
- Median rent
- 220th of 300↑36.4%$1,554/mo
- Home value
- 213th of 300↑33.9%$395,300
- Property tax
- $5,827/yr · 1.5%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 138th of 3004.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 2nd of 30059.9%
- Avg commute
- 160th of 30024.4 min
People
- Population
- 373,875
- Population change
- +1.7%
- Median age
- 35.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 13.8%
- Broadband
- 94.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 106th of 30043
- Natural-hazard loss
- 19th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 5th of 30013.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 5.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — ann arbor muni ap.
What jobs pay in Ann Arbor
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $214,100
- IT managers
- $171,200
- Pharmacists
- $166,350
- Financial managers
- $139,500
- Lawyers
- $132,920
- Software developers
- $126,830
- General & operations managers
- $106,000
- Registered nurses
- $103,450
- Civil engineers
- $97,570
- Web developers
- $89,000
- Electricians
- $81,450
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,040
- Plumbers
- $78,210
- Police officers
- $74,410
- Carpenters
- $65,170
- Elementary school teachers
- $64,060
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,780
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,230
- Construction laborers
- $50,910
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $49,170
- Waiters & waitresses
- $40,230
- Customer service reps
- $39,480
- Janitors
- $38,080
- Retail salespersons
- $35,040
- Cashiers
- $32,370
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Ann Arbor metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Michigan are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California2,090
- Illinois1,359
- Ohio1,292
- New York1,172
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Ann Arbor
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Ann Arbor metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Ann Arbor metro?
- Median gross rent across the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area is $1,554 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Ann Arbor.
- What is the median household income in the Ann Arbor metro?
- A typical household in the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area earns $90,523 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Ann Arbor expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Ann Arbor metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $89,733 (versus its face value of $90,523). CityLedger rates the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Ann Arbor metro?
- The median home value across the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area is $395,300 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Ann Arbor metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area is 4.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).