Big Rapids vs Canadian Lakes

A side-by-side comparison of Big Rapids and Canadian Lakes: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Big Rapids has the higher population (7,847 vs 2,701 in Canadian Lakes). Canadian Lakes has the higher median household income ($69,069 vs $40,197 in Big Rapids). Canadian Lakes has the higher median home value ($258,900 vs $134,200 in Big Rapids).

Population, income & housing

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
Population	7,847	2,701
Median age	23.0 yrs	65.4 yrs
Median household income	$40,197	$69,069
Median home value	$134,200	$258,900
Median gross rent	$815	$800
Housing units	3,347	2,360
Homeownership rate	40.3%	89.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.3%	34.7%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	1.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
Population	10,355 → 7,847 (-24.2%)	2,574 → 2,701 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$26,227 → $40,197 (+53.3%)	$58,229 → $69,069 (+18.6%)
Median home value	$93,900 → $134,200 (+42.9%)	$186,300 → $258,900 (+39.0%)
Median gross rent	$670 → $815 (+21.6%)	$800 → $800 (+0.0%)

Big Rapids

Population

10,3557,847

Median household income

$26,227$40,197

Median home value

$93,900$134,200

Median gross rent

$670$815

Canadian Lakes

Population

2,5742,701

Median household income

$58,229$69,069

Median home value

$186,300$258,900

Median gross rent

$800$800

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
Under 5	2.3%	2.7%
5 to 17	10.0%	6.7%
18 to 24	46.6%	2.9%
25 to 34	8.6%	9.7%
35 to 44	11.1%	5.3%
45 to 54	4.9%	7.3%
55 to 64	6.4%	14.5%
65 to 74	6.2%	32.4%
75 and over	3.8%	18.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
White (non-Hispanic)	84.4%	97.9%
Black or African American	6.1%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.6%	0.0%
Asian	0.9%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.6%
Two or more races	1.8%	0.9%
Hispanic or Latino	5.2%	0.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
No high school diploma	7.2%	0.4%
High school graduate	35.4%	28.0%
Some college or associate's	29.1%	36.9%
Bachelor's degree	17.9%	20.3%
Graduate or professional degree	10.4%	14.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
Drove alone	66.6%	72.0%
Carpooled	6.1%	9.4%
Public transit	1.4%	0.0%
Walked	16.2%	1.6%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.1%	15.5%
Other means	1.9%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
1-unit, detached	39.5%	85.0%
1-unit, attached	3.2%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	22.8%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	18.4%	0.6%
20 or more units	8.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	7.7%	12.5%

Poverty & households

	Big Rapids	Canadian Lakes
Poverty rate	35.4%	13.3%
Average household size	2.07	1.89
Mean commute (minutes)	15	32
Median year structure built	1970	1988