Big Rapids vs Mecosta

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

Big Rapids and Mecosta 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 509 in Mecosta). Mecosta has the higher median household income ($70,069 vs $40,197 in Big Rapids). Big Rapids has the higher median home value ($134,200 vs $92,200 in Mecosta).

Population, income & housing

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
Population	7,847	509
Median age	23.0 yrs	45.1 yrs
Median household income	$40,197	$70,069
Median home value	$134,200	$92,200
Median gross rent	$815	$804
Housing units	3,347	223
Homeownership rate	40.3%	82.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.3%	10.9%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	9.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
Population	10,355 → 7,847 (-24.2%)	404 → 509 (+26.0%)
Median household income	$26,227 → $40,197 (+53.3%)	$33,750 → $70,069 (+107.6%)
Median home value	$93,900 → $134,200 (+42.9%)	$63,100 → $92,200 (+46.1%)
Median gross rent	$670 → $815 (+21.6%)	$767 → $804 (+4.8%)

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

Mecosta

Population

404509

Median household income

$33,750$70,069

Median home value

$63,100$92,200

Median gross rent

$767$804

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
Under 5	2.3%	7.5%
5 to 17	10.0%	8.1%
18 to 24	46.6%	3.7%
25 to 34	8.6%	17.9%
35 to 44	11.1%	12.8%
45 to 54	4.9%	6.9%
55 to 64	6.4%	26.9%
65 to 74	6.2%	11.0%
75 and over	3.8%	5.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
White (non-Hispanic)	84.4%	88.6%
Black or African American	6.1%	5.7%
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%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.8%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	5.2%	1.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
No high school diploma	7.2%	9.7%
High school graduate	35.4%	54.0%
Some college or associate's	29.1%	25.3%
Bachelor's degree	17.9%	4.1%
Graduate or professional degree	10.4%	6.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
Drove alone	66.6%	91.3%
Carpooled	6.1%	6.4%
Public transit	1.4%	0.0%
Walked	16.2%	1.8%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.1%	0.5%
Other means	1.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
1-unit, detached	39.5%	75.8%
1-unit, attached	3.2%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	22.8%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	18.4%	0.0%
20 or more units	8.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	7.7%	23.3%

Poverty & households

	Big Rapids	Mecosta
Poverty rate	35.4%	19.4%
Average household size	2.07	2.51
Mean commute (minutes)	15	24
Median year structure built	1970	1971