Benton Harbor vs Fair Plain

A side-by-side comparison of Benton Harbor and Fair Plain: population, income, housing, and more.

Benton Harbor and Fair Plain are places in Michigan. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Benton Harbor has the higher population (9,023 vs 6,992 in Fair Plain). Fair Plain has the higher median household income ($55,536 vs $29,652 in Benton Harbor). Fair Plain has the higher median home value ($147,800 vs $75,500 in Benton Harbor).

Population, income & housing

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
Population	9,023	6,992
Median age	33.2 yrs	42.5 yrs
Median household income	$29,652	$55,536
Median home value	$75,500	$147,800
Median gross rent	$775	$989
Housing units	4,324	3,435
Homeownership rate	36.5%	73.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.8%	24.5%
Unemployment rate	20.8%	16.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
Population	9,843 → 9,023 (-8.3%)	7,076 → 6,992 (-1.2%)
Median household income	$21,916 → $29,652 (+35.3%)	$38,494 → $55,536 (+44.3%)
Median home value	$63,300 → $75,500 (+19.3%)	$99,100 → $147,800 (+49.1%)
Median gross rent	$644 → $775 (+20.3%)	$784 → $989 (+26.1%)

Benton Harbor

Population

9,8439,023

Median household income

$21,916$29,652

Median home value

$63,300$75,500

Median gross rent

$644$775

Fair Plain

Population

7,0766,992

Median household income

$38,494$55,536

Median home value

$99,100$147,800

Median gross rent

$784$989

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
Under 5	5.2%	6.8%
5 to 17	23.1%	10.9%
18 to 24	10.1%	6.6%
25 to 34	13.2%	15.7%
35 to 44	14.6%	13.0%
45 to 54	15.0%	12.6%
55 to 64	10.2%	16.4%
65 to 74	5.3%	13.2%
75 and over	3.2%	4.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
White (non-Hispanic)	9.3%	48.4%
Black or African American	80.2%	38.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.0%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.4%	0.7%
Two or more races	3.7%	6.3%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	4.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
No high school diploma	19.3%	11.2%
High school graduate	36.6%	31.7%
Some college or associate's	36.3%	32.7%
Bachelor's degree	5.1%	13.7%
Graduate or professional degree	2.8%	10.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
Drove alone	76.2%	83.5%
Carpooled	11.2%	7.4%
Public transit	1.2%	1.3%
Walked	3.3%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.6%	5.0%
Other means	0.4%	2.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
1-unit, detached	71.8%	82.8%
1-unit, attached	1.3%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	7.6%	3.5%
5 to 19 units	8.2%	10.8%
20 or more units	10.6%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	0.4%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Benton Harbor	Fair Plain
Poverty rate	41.9%	22.9%
Average household size	2.38	2.23
Mean commute (minutes)	18	19
Median year structure built	1956	1960