Grand Rapids, MI
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Grand Rapids ranks 96th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 101st for income. A household earns $81,541 a year while median rent runs $1,289/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (35th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (234th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 162nd and home prices 162nd 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 Grand Rapids, your take-home is worth about $60,836 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further 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
- 101st of 300↑24%$81,541
- 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.
- 159th of 30096 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $85,342
- Per-capita income
- $42,517
- Full-time pay
- $44,583
Housing
- Median rent
- 162nd of 300↑37.6%$1,289/mo
- Home value
- 162nd of 300↑58.8%$316,600
- Property tax
- $3,180/yr · 1%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 93rd of 30038.3%
- Avg commute
- 69th of 30021.9 min
People
- Population
- 1,178,826
- Population change
- +9.4%
- Median age
- 37.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.8%
- Broadband
- 93.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 234th of 30051
- Natural-hazard loss
- 35th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 77th of 30016.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.3%
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
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — grand rapids.
What jobs pay in Grand Rapids
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $218,000
- IT managers
- $142,700
- Pharmacists
- $140,710
- Financial managers
- $133,380
- Lawyers
- $129,360
- Software developers
- $107,520
- General & operations managers
- $101,720
- Civil engineers
- $92,600
- Registered nurses
- $83,920
- Plumbers
- $80,440
- Web developers
- $80,400
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,270
- Police officers
- $74,920
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,730
- Electricians
- $62,240
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,900
- Carpenters
- $59,000
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,270
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,530
- Construction laborers
- $47,780
- Customer service reps
- $44,990
- Waiters & waitresses
- $42,930
- Janitors
- $35,890
- Retail salespersons
- $34,800
- Cashiers
- $29,880
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 Grand Rapids 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.
- Illinois1,508
- California1,412
- Texas1,209
- Florida1,190
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Grand Rapids
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Grand Rapids metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Grand Rapids metro?
- Median gross rent across the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area is $1,289 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Grand Rapids.
- What is the median household income in the Grand Rapids metro?
- A typical household in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area earns $81,541 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Grand Rapids expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area runs about 4% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Grand Rapids metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $85,342 (versus its face value of $81,541). CityLedger rates the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Grand Rapids metro?
- The median home value across the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area is $316,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Grand Rapids metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).