Lansing, MI
Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Lansing ranks 196th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 185th for income. A household earns $72,010 a year while median rent runs $1,111/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 commute (60th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (196th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 93rd and home prices 73rd 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 Lansing, your take-home is worth about $61,191 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
- 185th of 300↑21.8%$72,010
- 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.
- 149th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $75,807
- Per-capita income
- $38,935
- Full-time pay
- $40,070
Housing
- Median rent
- 93rd of 300↑30.4%$1,111/mo
- Home value
- 73rd of 300↑48.5%$237,100
- Property tax
- $3,590/yr · 1.5%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 120th of 3004.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 92nd of 30038.4%
- Avg commute
- 60th of 30021.6 min
People
- Population
- 479,971
- Population change
- -12.8%
- Median age
- 36.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8%
- Broadband
- 92.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 77th of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 102nd of 30017%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 6.8%
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
- + Home prices
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — lansing capital city ap.
What jobs pay in Lansing
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $206,110
- IT managers
- $134,440
- Pharmacists
- $133,300
- Financial managers
- $132,590
- Lawyers
- $128,610
- General & operations managers
- $119,140
- Software developers
- $97,120
- Civil engineers
- $96,040
- Registered nurses
- $84,320
- Electricians
- $80,480
- Accountants & auditors
- $79,210
- Plumbers
- $78,190
- Police officers
- $75,670
- Web developers
- $73,890
- Elementary school teachers
- $72,930
- Carpenters
- $64,270
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,900
- Construction laborers
- $57,570
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,710
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,580
- Customer service reps
- $44,250
- Waiters & waitresses
- $38,210
- Janitors
- $35,730
- Retail salespersons
- $33,840
- Cashiers
- $29,930
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 Lansing 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.
- Florida1,149
- Illinois892
- California770
- New York714
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Lansing
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Lansing metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Lansing metro?
- Median gross rent across the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area is $1,111 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Lansing.
- What is the median household income in the Lansing metro?
- A typical household in the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area earns $72,010 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Lansing expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Lansing-East Lansing, 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 Lansing metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $75,807 (versus its face value of $72,010). CityLedger rates the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Lansing metro?
- The median home value across the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area is $237,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Lansing metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area is 4.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).