MI metros

Cost of living across major MI metropolitan areas.

What living in MI costs

Across the 6 MI metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 95 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 1% cheaper than the typical US metro. That ranks MI 22 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

The state is not uniform: Flint, MI is the cheapest metro at 89.9, while Detroit, MI runs 98.2 — a spread of 9% between them.

A typical MI home costs $279,752, or about 3.9× median household income, and typical rent is $1,500/mo.

Taxes in MI

MI levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 1.5% of home value in a typical MI metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 6%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

Metro	COL index	Median home	Median rent
Detroit, MI	98.2	$269,080	$1,500
Grand Rapids, MI	95.0	$359,923	$1,623
Lansing, MI	93.0	$250,377	$1,265
Flint, MI	89.9	$197,858	$1,096
Ann Arbor, MI	98.2	$422,945	$2,068
Kalamazoo, MI	94.1	$279,752	$1,298

Cities & towns in MI (80)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.

Detroit →Grand Rapids →Warren →Sterling Heights →Ann Arbor →Lansing →Dearborn →Livonia →Troy →Westland →Farmington Hills →Flint →Wyoming →Southfield →Rochester Hills →Kalamazoo →Novi →Taylor →Dearborn Heights →Pontiac →St. Clair Shores →Royal Oak →Kentwood →Portage →Roseville →East Lansing →Lincoln Park →Eastpointe →Southgate →Burton →Oak Park →Port Huron →Madison Heights →Forest Hills →Allen Park →Hamtramck →Garden City →Inkster →Okemos →Holt →Allendale →Walker →Romulus →Wyandotte →Auburn Hills →Waverly →Birmingham →Ypsilanti →Cutlerville →Ferndale →Haslett →Trenton →Wayne →Jenison →Wixom →Grosse Pointe Woods →Grandville →Mount Clemens →Northview →Harper Woods →Berkley →Hazel Park →Fraser →Ionia →Rochester →Woodhaven →Melvindale →Riverview →New Baltimore →Fenton →South Lyon →Grosse Pointe Park →Farmington →Clawson →East Grand Rapids →Grand Haven →Beverly Hills →Comstock Park →Howell →Grosse Pointe Farms →