Muskegon Heights vs Norton Shores

A side-by-side comparison of Muskegon Heights and Norton Shores: population, income, housing, and more.

Muskegon Heights and Norton Shores are places in Michigan. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Norton Shores has the higher population (25,000 vs 9,902 in Muskegon Heights). Norton Shores has the higher median household income ($73,390 vs $33,780 in Muskegon Heights). Norton Shores has the higher median home value ($214,000 vs $55,800 in Muskegon Heights).

Population, income & housing

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
Population	9,902	25,000
Median age	31.8 yrs	40.1 yrs
Median household income	$33,780	$73,390
Median home value	$55,800	$214,000
Median gross rent	$826	$1,286
Housing units	4,693	10,700
Homeownership rate	44.8%	85.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.1%	33.2%
Unemployment rate	18.0%	5.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
Population	10,748 → 9,902 (-7.9%)	24,467 → 25,000 (+2.2%)
Median household income	$30,795 → $33,780 (+9.7%)	$63,805 → $73,390 (+15.0%)
Median home value	$43,900 → $55,800 (+27.1%)	$140,400 → $214,000 (+52.4%)
Median gross rent	$711 → $826 (+16.2%)	$946 → $1,286 (+35.9%)

Muskegon Heights

Population

10,7489,902

Median household income

$30,795$33,780

Median home value

$43,900$55,800

Median gross rent

$711$826

Norton Shores

Population

24,46725,000

Median household income

$63,805$73,390

Median home value

$140,400$214,000

Median gross rent

$946$1,286

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
Under 5	8.3%	6.7%
5 to 17	21.6%	16.1%
18 to 24	8.5%	6.4%
25 to 34	16.2%	13.5%
35 to 44	10.4%	12.4%
45 to 54	11.1%	10.2%
55 to 64	9.5%	12.4%
65 to 74	9.2%	14.1%
75 and over	5.3%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
White (non-Hispanic)	15.8%	87.7%
Black or African American	75.4%	3.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.6%	0.2%
Asian	0.0%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.3%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	2.9%	3.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
No high school diploma	12.9%	4.6%
High school graduate	46.7%	23.6%
Some college or associate's	33.4%	38.6%
Bachelor's degree	3.0%	23.8%
Graduate or professional degree	4.1%	9.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
Drove alone	81.6%	81.1%
Carpooled	12.7%	7.8%
Public transit	1.1%	0.1%
Walked	1.9%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.2%
Worked from home	1.5%	9.6%
Other means	0.8%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
1-unit, detached	76.7%	76.7%
1-unit, attached	1.2%	5.6%
2 to 4 units	5.5%	0.9%
5 to 19 units	11.2%	9.1%
20 or more units	4.2%	1.1%
Mobile home & other	1.3%	6.5%

Poverty & households

	Muskegon Heights	Norton Shores
Poverty rate	37.1%	5.8%
Average household size	2.58	2.54
Mean commute (minutes)	20	21
Median year structure built	1945	1974