Muskegon, MI
Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Muskegon ranks 288th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 272nd for income. A household earns $60,829 a year while median rent runs $977/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (10th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (288th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 33rd and home prices 57th 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 Muskegon, your take-home is worth about $62,826 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
- 272nd of 300↑20.8%$60,829
- 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.
- 97th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $65,748
- Per-capita income
- $32,160
- Full-time pay
- $38,650
Housing
- Median rent
- 33rd of 300↑34.4%$977/mo
- Home value
- 57th of 300↑69.4%$222,100
- Property tax
- $2,479/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 120th of 3004.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 283rd of 30021.3%
- Avg commute
- 42nd of 30021 min
People
- Population
- 177,428
- Population change
- +2.2%
- Median age
- 40.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 1.7%
- Broadband
- 92.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 42nd of 30038
- Natural-hazard loss
- 10th of 300$7/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 209th of 30020.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.1%
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
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — muskegon co ap.
What jobs pay in Muskegon
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $220,540
- Pharmacists
- $141,460
- IT managers
- $124,960
- Financial managers
- $120,070
- Software developers
- $101,940
- Lawyers
- $97,300
- Civil engineers
- $93,140
- General & operations managers
- $86,200
- Electricians
- $77,100
- Police officers
- $76,430
- Plumbers
- $76,290
- Accountants & auditors
- $75,480
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,650
- Elementary school teachers
- $62,660
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $50,500
- Carpenters
- $48,830
- Construction laborers
- $47,010
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,560
- Waiters & waitresses
- $44,920
- Customer service reps
- $40,760
- Janitors
- $34,510
- Retail salespersons
- $30,570
- Cashiers
- $28,590
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 Muskegon 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.
- Tennessee290
- Ohio186
- Mississippi161
- Arkansas155
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Muskegon
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Muskegon metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Muskegon metro?
- Median gross rent across the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area is $977 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Muskegon.
- What is the median household income in the Muskegon metro?
- A typical household in the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area earns $60,829 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Muskegon expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area runs about 7% 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 Muskegon metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $65,748 (versus its face value of $60,829). CityLedger rates the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Muskegon metro?
- The median home value across the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area is $222,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Muskegon metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area is 4.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).