East Lansing vs Lansing

A side-by-side comparison of East Lansing and Lansing: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Lansing has the higher population (112,546 vs 45,394 in East Lansing). Lansing has the higher median household income ($52,170 vs $43,547 in East Lansing). East Lansing has the higher median home value ($251,600 vs $119,400 in Lansing).

Population, income & housing

	East Lansing	Lansing
Population	45,394	112,546
Median age	21.3 yrs	33.5 yrs
Median household income	$43,547	$52,170
Median home value	$251,600	$119,400
Median gross rent	$1,122	$976
Housing units	15,693	55,628
Homeownership rate	38.9%	53.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	67.4%	29.6%
Unemployment rate	6.9%	8.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	East Lansing	Lansing
Population	48,729 → 45,394 (-6.8%)	117,159 → 112,546 (-3.9%)
Median household income	$39,867 → $43,547 (+9.2%)	$41,674 → $52,170 (+25.2%)
Median home value	$192,800 → $251,600 (+30.5%)	$83,500 → $119,400 (+43.0%)
Median gross rent	$952 → $1,122 (+17.9%)	$819 → $976 (+19.2%)

East Lansing

Population

48,72945,394

Median household income

$39,867$43,547

Median home value

$192,800$251,600

Median gross rent

$952$1,122

Lansing

Population

117,159112,546

Median household income

$41,674$52,170

Median home value

$83,500$119,400

Median gross rent

$819$976

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	East Lansing	Lansing
Under 5	2.2%	6.8%
5 to 17	6.8%	15.5%
18 to 24	59.0%	11.5%
25 to 34	9.1%	18.7%
35 to 44	5.6%	12.3%
45 to 54	5.1%	10.8%
55 to 64	3.6%	11.2%
65 to 74	4.5%	8.9%
75 and over	4.0%	4.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	East Lansing	Lansing
White (non-Hispanic)	71.9%	51.3%
Black or African American	7.6%	22.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	9.2%	5.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.7%
Two or more races	4.7%	7.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	East Lansing	Lansing
No high school diploma	1.7%	10.1%
High school graduate	12.2%	25.1%
Some college or associate's	18.8%	35.2%
Bachelor's degree	30.1%	18.3%
Graduate or professional degree	37.3%	11.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	East Lansing	Lansing
Drove alone	47.4%	67.3%
Carpooled	4.8%	11.5%
Public transit	5.9%	3.3%
Walked	18.3%	2.4%
Bicycle	3.8%	0.9%
Worked from home	18.9%	13.2%
Other means	1.0%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	East Lansing	Lansing
1-unit, detached	35.5%	62.5%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	4.7%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	7.5%
5 to 19 units	27.3%	13.6%
20 or more units	24.1%	10.1%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	1.6%

Poverty & households

	East Lansing	Lansing
Poverty rate	34.1%	19.9%
Average household size	2.17	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	17	20
Median year structure built	1975	1960