Benton Harbor vs Niles

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

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

Niles has the higher population (11,838 vs 9,023 in Benton Harbor). Niles has the higher median household income ($47,815 vs $29,652 in Benton Harbor). Niles has the higher median home value ($115,400 vs $75,500 in Benton Harbor).

Population, income & housing

	Benton Harbor	Niles
Population	9,023	11,838
Median age	33.2 yrs	39.2 yrs
Median household income	$29,652	$47,815
Median home value	$75,500	$115,400
Median gross rent	$775	$869
Housing units	4,324	5,471
Homeownership rate	36.5%	62.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.8%	17.1%
Unemployment rate	20.8%	11.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Benton Harbor	Niles
Population	9,843 → 9,023 (-8.3%)	11,211 → 11,838 (+5.6%)
Median household income	$21,916 → $29,652 (+35.3%)	$34,486 → $47,815 (+38.7%)
Median home value	$63,300 → $75,500 (+19.3%)	$85,400 → $115,400 (+35.1%)
Median gross rent	$644 → $775 (+20.3%)	$635 → $869 (+36.9%)

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

Niles

Population

11,21111,838

Median household income

$34,486$47,815

Median home value

$85,400$115,400

Median gross rent

$635$869

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Benton Harbor	Niles
Under 5	5.2%	5.8%
5 to 17	23.1%	15.5%
18 to 24	10.1%	10.1%
25 to 34	13.2%	13.4%
35 to 44	14.6%	12.7%
45 to 54	15.0%	10.1%
55 to 64	10.2%	12.0%
65 to 74	5.3%	10.8%
75 and over	3.2%	9.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Benton Harbor	Niles
White (non-Hispanic)	9.3%	77.9%
Black or African American	80.2%	12.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.6%
Asian	0.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.4%	0.1%
Two or more races	3.7%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	4.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Benton Harbor	Niles
No high school diploma	19.3%	9.5%
High school graduate	36.6%	35.0%
Some college or associate's	36.3%	38.5%
Bachelor's degree	5.1%	11.7%
Graduate or professional degree	2.8%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Benton Harbor	Niles
Drove alone	76.2%	81.2%
Carpooled	11.2%	10.8%
Public transit	1.2%	0.3%
Walked	3.3%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	7.6%	5.1%
Other means	0.4%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Benton Harbor	Niles
1-unit, detached	71.8%	67.1%
1-unit, attached	1.3%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	7.6%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	8.2%	9.7%
20 or more units	10.6%	12.4%
Mobile home & other	0.4%	1.0%

Poverty & households

	Benton Harbor	Niles
Poverty rate	41.9%	20.9%
Average household size	2.38	2.27
Mean commute (minutes)	18	22
Median year structure built	1956	1954