Jackson, MI
Jackson, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Jackson, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Jackson ranks 234th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 230th for income. A household earns $66,155 a year while median rent runs $965/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 8% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is rent (26th of 300), while education is the soft spot (246th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 26th and home prices 44th 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 Jackson, your take-home is worth about $63,333 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
- 230th of 300↑20%$66,155
- 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.
- 85th of 30092 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $72,081
- Per-capita income
- $37,464
- Full-time pay
- $43,877
Housing
- Median rent
- 26th of 300↑23.9%$965/mo
- Home value
- 44th of 300↑49%$212,900
- Property tax
- $2,498/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 37th of 3003.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 246th of 30025.6%
- Avg commute
- 118th of 30023.4 min
People
- Population
- 160,233
- Population change
- +1.1%
- Median age
- 41.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 1.3%
- Broadband
- 92.6%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 41st of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 200th of 30020.1%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 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
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — jackson reynolds fld.
What jobs pay in Jackson
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $170,400
- Financial managers
- $149,930
- Pharmacists
- $134,080
- Software developers
- $130,220
- Civil engineers
- $107,320
- General & operations managers
- $91,950
- Plumbers
- $81,930
- Accountants & auditors
- $81,470
- Police officers
- $65,160
- Elementary school teachers
- $63,770
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,590
- Electricians
- $63,540
- Carpenters
- $56,160
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,080
- Construction laborers
- $48,130
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,090
- Customer service reps
- $42,230
- Waiters & waitresses
- $39,920
- Janitors
- $34,970
- Retail salespersons
- $34,770
- Cashiers
- $29,370
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 Jackson 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.
- Ohio429
- Florida323
- Arizona171
- Texas154
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Jackson
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Jackson metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Jackson metro?
- Median gross rent across the Jackson, MI Metro Area is $965 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Jackson.
- What is the median household income in the Jackson metro?
- A typical household in the Jackson, MI Metro Area earns $66,155 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Jackson expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Jackson, MI Metro Area runs about 8% 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 Jackson metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $72,081 (versus its face value of $66,155). CityLedger rates the Jackson, MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Jackson metro?
- The median home value across the Jackson, MI Metro Area is $212,900 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Jackson metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Jackson, MI Metro Area is 3.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).