Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Kalamazoo ranks 206th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 196th for income. A household earns $71,069 a year while median rent runs $1,080/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (30th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (206th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 71st and home prices 101st 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 Kalamazoo, your take-home is worth about $61,288 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
- 196th of 300↑25.9%$71,069
- 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.
- 148th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $74,936
- Per-capita income
- $41,995
- Full-time pay
- $42,087
Housing
- Median rent
- 71st of 300↑31.1%$1,080/mo
- Home value
- 101st of 300↑51.7%$260,600
- Property tax
- $3,540/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 120th of 3004.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 64th of 30041.2%
- Avg commute
- 31st of 30020.7 min
People
- Population
- 264,780
- Population change
- -0.1%
- Median age
- 35.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.7%
- Broadband
- 92.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 141st of 30045
- Natural-hazard loss
- 30th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 88th of 30016.7%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 6.5%
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
- + Rent
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — kalamazoo battle creek intl ap.
What jobs pay in Kalamazoo
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $244,310
- Pharmacists
- $140,910
- IT managers
- $137,390
- Financial managers
- $130,760
- Software developers
- $118,100
- Lawyers
- $112,400
- General & operations managers
- $100,160
- Civil engineers
- $96,060
- Plumbers
- $90,730
- Registered nurses
- $88,200
- Web developers
- $81,130
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,140
- Police officers
- $74,810
- Secondary school teachers
- $72,410
- Electricians
- $65,690
- Elementary school teachers
- $63,450
- Carpenters
- $61,060
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,880
- Construction laborers
- $51,380
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,700
- Customer service reps
- $44,130
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,760
- Janitors
- $35,630
- Retail salespersons
- $33,660
- Cashiers
- $29,820
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 Kalamazoo 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.
- Illinois819
- Indiana492
- California477
- Pennsylvania273
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Kalamazoo
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Kalamazoo metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Kalamazoo metro?
- Median gross rent across the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area is $1,080 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Kalamazoo.
- What is the median household income in the Kalamazoo metro?
- A typical household in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area earns $71,069 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Kalamazoo expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area runs about 5% 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 Kalamazoo metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $74,936 (versus its face value of $71,069). CityLedger rates the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Kalamazoo metro?
- The median home value across the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area is $260,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Kalamazoo metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area is 4.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).