Rochester vs South Lyon

A side-by-side comparison of Rochester and South Lyon: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Rochester has the higher population (12,939 vs 11,825 in South Lyon). Rochester has the higher median household income ($104,920 vs $83,822 in South Lyon). Rochester has the higher median home value ($450,800 vs $280,900 in South Lyon).

Population, income & housing

	Rochester	South Lyon
Population	12,939	11,825
Median age	39.4 yrs	41.8 yrs
Median household income	$104,920	$83,822
Median home value	$450,800	$280,900
Median gross rent	$1,201	$1,208
Housing units	5,936	5,201
Homeownership rate	67.4%	79.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	70.2%	45.0%
Unemployment rate	2.5%	3.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rochester	South Lyon
Population	13,162 → 12,939 (-1.7%)	11,788 → 11,825 (+0.3%)
Median household income	$89,904 → $104,920 (+16.7%)	$73,200 → $83,822 (+14.5%)
Median home value	$366,100 → $450,800 (+23.1%)	$192,100 → $280,900 (+46.2%)
Median gross rent	$1,046 → $1,201 (+14.8%)	$1,042 → $1,208 (+15.9%)

Rochester

Population

13,16212,939

Median household income

$89,904$104,920

Median home value

$366,100$450,800

Median gross rent

$1,046$1,201

South Lyon

Population

11,78811,825

Median household income

$73,200$83,822

Median home value

$192,100$280,900

Median gross rent

$1,042$1,208

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Rochester	South Lyon
Under 5	5.6%	3.6%
5 to 17	16.3%	16.7%
18 to 24	8.6%	11.0%
25 to 34	14.7%	10.3%
35 to 44	12.3%	11.2%
45 to 54	15.2%	13.0%
55 to 64	13.2%	17.5%
65 to 74	8.8%	9.9%
75 and over	5.4%	6.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rochester	South Lyon
White (non-Hispanic)	82.3%	89.0%
Black or African American	2.1%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	8.3%	2.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	6.1%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	1.2%	3.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rochester	South Lyon
No high school diploma	1.7%	2.6%
High school graduate	7.0%	19.2%
Some college or associate's	21.1%	33.3%
Bachelor's degree	36.6%	25.8%
Graduate or professional degree	33.6%	19.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rochester	South Lyon
Drove alone	69.5%	82.1%
Carpooled	1.4%	5.1%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	3.2%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.5%
Worked from home	25.0%	11.1%
Other means	0.8%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rochester	South Lyon
1-unit, detached	51.0%	55.2%
1-unit, attached	10.2%	16.4%
2 to 4 units	4.1%	6.4%
5 to 19 units	27.1%	14.1%
20 or more units	7.2%	4.7%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	3.2%

Poverty & households

	Rochester	South Lyon
Poverty rate	4.4%	4.8%
Average household size	2.31	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	27	31
Median year structure built	1982	1991