East Lansing vs Okemos

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

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

East Lansing has the higher population (45,394 vs 25,503 in Okemos). Okemos has the higher median household income ($97,603 vs $43,547 in East Lansing). Okemos has the higher median home value ($336,800 vs $251,600 in East Lansing).

Population, income & housing

	East Lansing	Okemos
Population	45,394	25,503
Median age	21.3 yrs	35.4 yrs
Median household income	$43,547	$97,603
Median home value	$251,600	$336,800
Median gross rent	$1,122	$1,250
Housing units	15,693	11,025
Homeownership rate	38.9%	60.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	67.4%	74.3%
Unemployment rate	6.9%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	East Lansing	Okemos
Population	48,729 → 45,394 (-6.8%)	24,141 → 25,503 (+5.6%)
Median household income	$39,867 → $43,547 (+9.2%)	$78,600 → $97,603 (+24.2%)
Median home value	$192,800 → $251,600 (+30.5%)	$243,200 → $336,800 (+38.5%)
Median gross rent	$952 → $1,122 (+17.9%)	$989 → $1,250 (+26.4%)

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

Okemos

Population

24,14125,503

Median household income

$78,600$97,603

Median home value

$243,200$336,800

Median gross rent

$989$1,250

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	East Lansing	Okemos
Under 5	2.2%	5.5%
5 to 17	6.8%	17.4%
18 to 24	59.0%	15.2%
25 to 34	9.1%	11.5%
35 to 44	5.6%	13.5%
45 to 54	5.1%	12.2%
55 to 64	3.6%	9.0%
65 to 74	4.5%	9.4%
75 and over	4.0%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	East Lansing	Okemos
White (non-Hispanic)	71.9%	62.5%
Black or African American	7.6%	3.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.8%
Asian	9.2%	19.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	1.0%
Two or more races	4.7%	5.9%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	6.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	East Lansing	Okemos
No high school diploma	1.7%	2.4%
High school graduate	12.2%	7.6%
Some college or associate's	18.8%	15.7%
Bachelor's degree	30.1%	31.5%
Graduate or professional degree	37.3%	42.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	East Lansing	Okemos
Drove alone	47.4%	66.4%
Carpooled	4.8%	6.4%
Public transit	5.9%	2.5%
Walked	18.3%	2.1%
Bicycle	3.8%	0.5%
Worked from home	18.9%	19.5%
Other means	1.0%	2.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	East Lansing	Okemos
1-unit, detached	35.5%	57.7%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	3.1%
5 to 19 units	27.3%	16.1%
20 or more units	24.1%	20.1%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	0.6%

Poverty & households

	East Lansing	Okemos
Poverty rate	34.1%	12.9%
Average household size	2.17	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	17	19
Median year structure built	1975	1984