Ishpeming vs West Ishpeming

A side-by-side comparison of Ishpeming and West Ishpeming: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Ishpeming has the higher population (6,173 vs 2,714 in West Ishpeming). West Ishpeming has the higher median household income ($80,500 vs $52,717 in Ishpeming). West Ishpeming has the higher median home value ($166,100 vs $109,200 in Ishpeming).

Population, income & housing

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
Population	6,173	2,714
Median age	35.5 yrs	41.1 yrs
Median household income	$52,717	$80,500
Median home value	$109,200	$166,100
Median gross rent	$688	$1,048
Housing units	2,857	1,123
Homeownership rate	71.0%	88.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.3%	25.2%
Unemployment rate	8.3%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
Population	6,464 → 6,173 (-4.5%)	2,739 → 2,714 (-0.9%)
Median household income	$46,299 → $52,717 (+13.9%)	$60,921 → $80,500 (+32.1%)
Median home value	$86,400 → $109,200 (+26.4%)	$122,500 → $166,100 (+35.6%)
Median gross rent	$512 → $688 (+34.4%)	$721 → $1,048 (+45.4%)

Ishpeming

Population

6,4646,173

Median household income

$46,299$52,717

Median home value

$86,400$109,200

Median gross rent

$512$688

West Ishpeming

Population

2,7392,714

Median household income

$60,921$80,500

Median home value

$122,500$166,100

Median gross rent

$721$1,048

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
Under 5	7.4%	5.0%
5 to 17	16.9%	15.8%
18 to 24	10.9%	11.6%
25 to 34	14.2%	7.6%
35 to 44	10.4%	13.2%
45 to 54	12.9%	10.4%
55 to 64	9.1%	14.2%
65 to 74	10.7%	12.6%
75 and over	7.4%	9.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
White (non-Hispanic)	90.5%	91.2%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	1.4%
Asian	0.7%	2.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	5.9%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	2.1%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
No high school diploma	5.8%	6.6%
High school graduate	31.0%	29.4%
Some college or associate's	36.9%	38.9%
Bachelor's degree	18.6%	19.6%
Graduate or professional degree	7.7%	5.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
Drove alone	73.6%	83.8%
Carpooled	10.6%	10.5%
Public transit	0.0%	0.9%
Walked	6.8%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.6%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.9%	3.9%
Other means	1.4%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
1-unit, detached	67.9%	79.3%
1-unit, attached	1.5%	8.6%
2 to 4 units	15.8%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	6.8%	4.3%
20 or more units	7.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.6%	6.9%

Poverty & households

	Ishpeming	West Ishpeming
Poverty rate	17.5%	5.6%
Average household size	2.43	2.49
Mean commute (minutes)	19	22
Median year structure built	1941	1971