East Lansing vs Williamston

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

East Lansing and Williamston 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 3,800 in Williamston). Williamston has the higher median household income ($73,902 vs $43,547 in East Lansing). East Lansing has the higher median home value ($251,600 vs $215,000 in Williamston).

Population, income & housing

	East Lansing	Williamston
Population	45,394	3,800
Median age	21.3 yrs	40.0 yrs
Median household income	$43,547	$73,902
Median home value	$251,600	$215,000
Median gross rent	$1,122	$972
Housing units	15,693	1,836
Homeownership rate	38.9%	73.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	67.4%	46.0%
Unemployment rate	6.9%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	East Lansing	Williamston
Population	48,729 → 45,394 (-6.8%)	3,959 → 3,800 (-4.0%)
Median household income	$39,867 → $43,547 (+9.2%)	$68,950 → $73,902 (+7.2%)
Median home value	$192,800 → $251,600 (+30.5%)	$161,900 → $215,000 (+32.8%)
Median gross rent	$952 → $1,122 (+17.9%)	$803 → $972 (+21.0%)

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

Williamston

Population

3,9593,800

Median household income

$68,950$73,902

Median home value

$161,900$215,000

Median gross rent

$803$972

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	East Lansing	Williamston
Under 5	2.2%	10.1%
5 to 17	6.8%	15.8%
18 to 24	59.0%	7.8%
25 to 34	9.1%	12.9%
35 to 44	5.6%	9.0%
45 to 54	5.1%	11.2%
55 to 64	3.6%	16.2%
65 to 74	4.5%	7.5%
75 and over	4.0%	9.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	East Lansing	Williamston
White (non-Hispanic)	71.9%	93.9%
Black or African American	7.6%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	9.2%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.7%	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	3.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	East Lansing	Williamston
No high school diploma	1.7%	2.5%
High school graduate	12.2%	12.2%
Some college or associate's	18.8%	39.3%
Bachelor's degree	30.1%	25.2%
Graduate or professional degree	37.3%	20.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	East Lansing	Williamston
Drove alone	47.4%	78.2%
Carpooled	4.8%	5.6%
Public transit	5.9%	0.1%
Walked	18.3%	1.6%
Bicycle	3.8%	0.0%
Worked from home	18.9%	14.6%
Other means	1.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	East Lansing	Williamston
1-unit, detached	35.5%	58.9%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	9.3%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	5.0%
5 to 19 units	27.3%	15.2%
20 or more units	24.1%	2.6%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	9.0%

Poverty & households

	East Lansing	Williamston
Poverty rate	34.1%	8.3%
Average household size	2.17	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	17	31
Median year structure built	1975	1978