Grand Rapids vs Walker

A side-by-side comparison of Grand Rapids and Walker: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Grand Rapids has the higher population (197,768 vs 25,201 in Walker). Walker has the higher median household income ($73,835 vs $65,526 in Grand Rapids). Walker has the higher median home value ($266,400 vs $225,500 in Grand Rapids).

Population, income & housing

	Grand Rapids	Walker
Population	197,768	25,201
Median age	32.1 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$65,526	$73,835
Median home value	$225,500	$266,400
Median gross rent	$1,191	$1,121
Housing units	85,145	10,634
Homeownership rate	54.6%	64.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.1%	36.5%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Grand Rapids	Walker
Population	198,401 → 197,768 (-0.3%)	24,816 → 25,201 (+1.6%)
Median household income	$50,103 → $65,526 (+30.8%)	$65,170 → $73,835 (+13.3%)
Median home value	$143,400 → $225,500 (+57.3%)	$174,700 → $266,400 (+52.5%)
Median gross rent	$925 → $1,191 (+28.8%)	$850 → $1,121 (+31.9%)

Grand Rapids

Population

198,401197,768

Median household income

$50,103$65,526

Median home value

$143,400$225,500

Median gross rent

$925$1,191

Walker

Population

24,81625,201

Median household income

$65,170$73,835

Median home value

$174,700$266,400

Median gross rent

$850$1,121

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Grand Rapids	Walker
Under 5	6.6%	5.8%
5 to 17	14.8%	15.6%
18 to 24	13.2%	8.9%
25 to 34	20.5%	18.4%
35 to 44	12.5%	11.6%
45 to 54	9.7%	9.7%
55 to 64	9.8%	12.2%
65 to 74	7.8%	10.3%
75 and over	5.1%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Grand Rapids	Walker
White (non-Hispanic)	57.5%	84.3%
Black or African American	17.4%	2.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	2.8%	3.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	1.3%
Two or more races	5.4%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	16.1%	5.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Grand Rapids	Walker
No high school diploma	11.0%	3.8%
High school graduate	21.7%	27.7%
Some college or associate's	27.2%	32.0%
Bachelor's degree	26.3%	24.4%
Graduate or professional degree	13.7%	12.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Grand Rapids	Walker
Drove alone	69.3%	78.4%
Carpooled	8.9%	11.2%
Public transit	3.1%	0.8%
Walked	4.3%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.3%	8.4%
Other means	1.1%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Grand Rapids	Walker
1-unit, detached	56.6%	57.2%
1-unit, attached	5.2%	7.1%
2 to 4 units	15.6%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	8.1%	18.9%
20 or more units	14.2%	9.3%
Mobile home & other	0.3%	3.7%

Poverty & households

	Grand Rapids	Walker
Poverty rate	18.6%	7.7%
Average household size	2.38	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	19	19
Median year structure built	1953	1984