Harper Woods vs Wayne

A side-by-side comparison of Harper Woods and Wayne: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wayne has the higher population (17,413 vs 15,205 in Harper Woods). Harper Woods has the higher median household income ($61,446 vs $54,467 in Wayne). Harper Woods has the higher median home value ($143,600 vs $142,200 in Wayne).

Population, income & housing

	Harper Woods	Wayne
Population	15,205	17,413
Median age	37.1 yrs	39.5 yrs
Median household income	$61,446	$54,467
Median home value	$143,600	$142,200
Median gross rent	$1,306	$924
Housing units	5,906	7,727
Homeownership rate	66.0%	57.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.0%	15.5%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	9.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Harper Woods	Wayne
Population	13,895 → 15,205 (+9.4%)	16,976 → 17,413 (+2.6%)
Median household income	$48,418 → $61,446 (+26.9%)	$46,875 → $54,467 (+16.2%)
Median home value	$83,600 → $143,600 (+71.8%)	$85,100 → $142,200 (+67.1%)
Median gross rent	$1,088 → $1,306 (+20.0%)	$759 → $924 (+21.7%)

Harper Woods

Population

13,89515,205

Median household income

$48,418$61,446

Median home value

$83,600$143,600

Median gross rent

$1,088$1,306

Wayne

Population

16,97617,413

Median household income

$46,875$54,467

Median home value

$85,100$142,200

Median gross rent

$759$924

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Harper Woods	Wayne
Under 5	5.6%	4.9%
5 to 17	21.1%	18.4%
18 to 24	7.6%	7.4%
25 to 34	14.1%	13.3%
35 to 44	12.9%	13.3%
45 to 54	14.5%	13.1%
55 to 64	10.3%	14.1%
65 to 74	9.2%	9.7%
75 and over	4.8%	5.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Harper Woods	Wayne
White (non-Hispanic)	29.8%	60.8%
Black or African American	63.8%	25.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.7%
Asian	0.4%	1.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.0%	6.3%
Hispanic or Latino	1.6%	5.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Harper Woods	Wayne
No high school diploma	6.6%	12.0%
High school graduate	30.7%	36.9%
Some college or associate's	37.7%	35.6%
Bachelor's degree	16.6%	11.0%
Graduate or professional degree	8.4%	4.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Harper Woods	Wayne
Drove alone	67.6%	78.2%
Carpooled	15.4%	10.3%
Public transit	1.8%	1.1%
Walked	0.9%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.3%
Worked from home	9.2%	7.7%
Other means	4.9%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Harper Woods	Wayne
1-unit, detached	87.2%	62.5%
1-unit, attached	1.5%	6.5%
2 to 4 units	5.3%	8.4%
5 to 19 units	3.2%	12.1%
20 or more units	2.8%	10.2%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Harper Woods	Wayne
Poverty rate	19.8%	15.3%
Average household size	2.69	2.43
Mean commute (minutes)	27	27
Median year structure built	1955	1959