Decatur vs Lawrence

A side-by-side comparison of Decatur and Lawrence: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Decatur has the higher population (1,814 vs 1,186 in Lawrence). Decatur has the higher median household income ($58,281 vs $36,188 in Lawrence). Decatur has the higher median home value ($121,900 vs $106,700 in Lawrence).

Population, income & housing

	Decatur	Lawrence
Population	1,814	1,186
Median age	34.5 yrs	33.0 yrs
Median household income	$58,281	$36,188
Median home value	$121,900	$106,700
Median gross rent	$779	$586
Housing units	838	458
Homeownership rate	75.9%	45.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.3%	13.6%
Unemployment rate	6.7%	9.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Decatur	Lawrence
Population	1,913 → 1,814 (-5.2%)	1,029 → 1,186 (+15.3%)
Median household income	$41,607 → $58,281 (+40.1%)	$43,125 → $36,188 (-16.1%)
Median home value	$83,100 → $121,900 (+46.7%)	$74,300 → $106,700 (+43.6%)
Median gross rent	$763 → $779 (+2.1%)	$560 → $586 (+4.6%)

Decatur

Population

1,9131,814

Median household income

$41,607$58,281

Median home value

$83,100$121,900

Median gross rent

$763$779

Lawrence

Population

1,0291,186

Median household income

$43,125$36,188

Median home value

$74,300$106,700

Median gross rent

$560$586

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Decatur	Lawrence
Under 5	7.8%	5.8%
5 to 17	15.6%	24.1%
18 to 24	12.6%	12.5%
25 to 34	15.1%	11.3%
35 to 44	11.2%	14.0%
45 to 54	11.3%	9.1%
55 to 64	12.0%	13.1%
65 to 74	9.9%	7.7%
75 and over	4.6%	2.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Decatur	Lawrence
White (non-Hispanic)	78.4%	56.3%
Black or African American	2.7%	0.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.7%	0.8%
Asian	0.8%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	6.7%	1.5%
Hispanic or Latino	10.6%	40.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Decatur	Lawrence
No high school diploma	13.6%	26.8%
High school graduate	39.1%	37.5%
Some college or associate's	33.0%	22.1%
Bachelor's degree	10.0%	7.0%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	6.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Decatur	Lawrence
Drove alone	65.2%	82.7%
Carpooled	26.0%	10.3%
Public transit	0.8%	0.0%
Walked	3.7%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.9%
Worked from home	4.3%	3.9%
Other means	0.0%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Decatur	Lawrence
1-unit, detached	81.4%	48.5%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	2.4%
5 to 19 units	4.7%	36.9%
20 or more units	5.5%	3.3%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	9.0%

Poverty & households

	Decatur	Lawrence
Poverty rate	21.6%	32.5%
Average household size	2.42	2.82
Mean commute (minutes)	25	22
Median year structure built	1951	1976