Central Lake vs Elk Rapids

A side-by-side comparison of Central Lake and Elk Rapids: population, income, housing, and more.

Central Lake and Elk Rapids are places in Michigan. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Elk Rapids has the higher population (1,558 vs 976 in Central Lake). Elk Rapids has the higher median household income ($78,472 vs $58,900 in Central Lake). Elk Rapids has the higher median home value ($348,400 vs $152,800 in Central Lake).

Population, income & housing

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
Population	976	1,558
Median age	31.2 yrs	57.5 yrs
Median household income	$58,900	$78,472
Median home value	$152,800	$348,400
Median gross rent	$994	$1,032
Housing units	538	1,238
Homeownership rate	77.9%	78.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.7%	46.8%
Unemployment rate	2.5%	0.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
Population	953 → 976 (+2.4%)	1,494 → 1,558 (+4.3%)
Median household income	$44,231 → $58,900 (+33.2%)	$60,536 → $78,472 (+29.6%)
Median home value	$84,400 → $152,800 (+81.0%)	$229,200 → $348,400 (+52.0%)
Median gross rent	$581 → $994 (+71.1%)	$827 → $1,032 (+24.8%)

Central Lake

Population

953976

Median household income

$44,231$58,900

Median home value

$84,400$152,800

Median gross rent

$581$994

Elk Rapids

Population

1,4941,558

Median household income

$60,536$78,472

Median home value

$229,200$348,400

Median gross rent

$827$1,032

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
Under 5	8.1%	3.5%
5 to 17	24.7%	11.4%
18 to 24	6.4%	4.5%
25 to 34	15.1%	6.2%
35 to 44	10.1%	12.0%
45 to 54	10.5%	7.2%
55 to 64	7.8%	19.7%
65 to 74	10.6%	19.3%
75 and over	6.9%	16.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
White (non-Hispanic)	97.0%	89.5%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.5%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	2.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.1%	4.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.2%	3.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
No high school diploma	4.9%	1.9%
High school graduate	39.4%	22.1%
Some college or associate's	32.0%	29.2%
Bachelor's degree	17.0%	30.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.7%	16.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
Drove alone	74.8%	70.5%
Carpooled	16.0%	1.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.6%	14.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.2%
Worked from home	5.6%	10.5%
Other means	0.0%	1.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
1-unit, detached	87.4%	63.7%
1-unit, attached	5.9%	7.5%
2 to 4 units	1.5%	12.6%
5 to 19 units	0.6%	8.6%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	4.6%	6.6%

Poverty & households

	Central Lake	Elk Rapids
Poverty rate	8.7%	4.3%
Average household size	2.83	1.87
Mean commute (minutes)	23	18
Median year structure built	1973	1967