Chelsea vs Ypsilanti

A side-by-side comparison of Chelsea and Ypsilanti: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Ypsilanti has the higher population (19,937 vs 5,420 in Chelsea). Chelsea has the higher median household income ($71,702 vs $44,141 in Ypsilanti). Chelsea has the higher median home value ($301,100 vs $223,700 in Ypsilanti).

Population, income & housing

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
Population	5,420	19,937
Median age	50.8 yrs	27.0 yrs
Median household income	$71,702	$44,141
Median home value	$301,100	$223,700
Median gross rent	$1,543	$1,034
Housing units	2,734	9,352
Homeownership rate	62.6%	33.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	50.8%	45.8%
Unemployment rate	2.6%	7.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
Population	5,331 → 5,420 (+1.7%)	20,828 → 19,937 (-4.3%)
Median household income	$83,750 → $71,702 (-14.4%)	$39,332 → $44,141 (+12.2%)
Median home value	$237,500 → $301,100 (+26.8%)	$151,300 → $223,700 (+47.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,084 → $1,543 (+42.3%)	$854 → $1,034 (+21.1%)

Chelsea

Population

5,3315,420

Median household income

$83,750$71,702

Median home value

$237,500$301,100

Median gross rent

$1,084$1,543

Ypsilanti

Population

20,82819,937

Median household income

$39,332$44,141

Median home value

$151,300$223,700

Median gross rent

$854$1,034

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
Under 5	3.0%	4.7%
5 to 17	13.8%	11.3%
18 to 24	5.9%	29.5%
25 to 34	10.1%	19.2%
35 to 44	11.5%	10.8%
45 to 54	10.0%	7.9%
55 to 64	12.7%	7.4%
65 to 74	14.7%	5.6%
75 and over	18.2%	3.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
White (non-Hispanic)	95.7%	57.2%
Black or African American	0.9%	22.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	5.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.4%
Some other race	0.0%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.8%	6.1%
Hispanic or Latino	0.5%	8.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
No high school diploma	2.2%	6.3%
High school graduate	11.2%	16.0%
Some college or associate's	35.8%	31.8%
Bachelor's degree	26.3%	22.6%
Graduate or professional degree	24.4%	23.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
Drove alone	69.9%	58.8%
Carpooled	4.6%	8.8%
Public transit	0.0%	7.8%
Walked	3.6%	7.8%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.5%
Worked from home	20.2%	15.2%
Other means	1.5%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
1-unit, detached	61.1%	36.3%
1-unit, attached	14.6%	3.0%
2 to 4 units	6.3%	19.6%
5 to 19 units	5.0%	23.8%
20 or more units	13.0%	16.9%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Chelsea	Ypsilanti
Poverty rate	3.8%	25.5%
Average household size	1.95	2.00
Mean commute (minutes)	24	23
Median year structure built	1970	1956