Bessemer vs Watersmeet

A side-by-side comparison of Bessemer and Watersmeet: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Bessemer has the higher population (1,778 vs 273 in Watersmeet). Watersmeet has the higher median household income ($60,708 vs $50,792 in Bessemer). Bessemer has the higher median home value ($76,100 vs $68,500 in Watersmeet).

Population, income & housing

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
Population	1,778	273
Median age	50.2 yrs	45.6 yrs
Median household income	$50,792	$60,708
Median home value	$76,100	$68,500
Median gross rent	$504	—
Housing units	1,155	187
Homeownership rate	75.4%	87.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.9%	9.2%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
Population	1,812 → 1,778 (-1.9%)	400 → 273 (-31.8%)
Median household income	$35,469 → $50,792 (+43.2%)	$32,639 → $60,708 (+86.0%)
Median home value	$55,900 → $76,100 (+36.1%)	$56,600 → $68,500 (+21.0%)
Median gross rent	$395 → $504 (+27.6%)	—

Bessemer

Population

1,8121,778

Median household income

$35,469$50,792

Median home value

$55,900$76,100

Median gross rent

$395$504

Watersmeet

Population

400273

Median household income

$32,639$60,708

Median home value

$56,600$68,500

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
Under 5	2.9%	5.1%
5 to 17	12.3%	27.1%
18 to 24	11.5%	0.0%
25 to 34	8.8%	11.4%
35 to 44	8.9%	2.9%
45 to 54	14.0%	17.6%
55 to 64	21.0%	7.3%
65 to 74	14.3%	27.5%
75 and over	6.2%	1.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
White (non-Hispanic)	90.6%	44.3%
Black or African American	0.4%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.2%	39.6%
Asian	1.3%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.7%	13.2%
Hispanic or Latino	2.9%	2.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
No high school diploma	3.1%	1.6%
High school graduate	34.8%	57.8%
Some college or associate's	42.2%	31.4%
Bachelor's degree	13.9%	4.9%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	4.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
Drove alone	80.6%	72.9%
Carpooled	0.6%	20.2%
Public transit	0.4%	0.0%
Walked	4.4%	7.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.9%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
1-unit, detached	82.8%	95.2%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	0.0%
20 or more units	1.9%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	2.6%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Bessemer	Watersmeet
Poverty rate	15.4%	5.5%
Average household size	2.06	2.26
Mean commute (minutes)	16	10
Median year structure built	1941	1972