Branch County vs Hillsdale County

A side-by-side comparison of Branch County and Hillsdale County: population, income, housing, and more.

Branch County and Hillsdale County are counties in Michigan. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hillsdale County has the higher population (45,658 vs 44,914 in Branch County). Branch County has the higher median household income ($61,958 vs $60,869 in Hillsdale County). Hillsdale County has the higher median home value ($170,500 vs $147,500 in Branch County).

Population, income & housing

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
Population	44,914	45,658
Median age	40.8 yrs	42.8 yrs
Median household income	$61,958	$60,869
Median home value	$147,500	$170,500
Median gross rent	$900	$801
Housing units	20,879	21,490
Homeownership rate	77.5%	81.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.9%	20.6%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
Population	43,513 → 44,914 (+3.2%)	45,757 → 45,658 (-0.2%)
Median household income	$51,947 → $61,958 (+19.3%)	$49,622 → $60,869 (+22.7%)
Median home value	$109,800 → $147,500 (+34.3%)	$120,100 → $170,500 (+42.0%)
Median gross rent	$753 → $900 (+19.5%)	$703 → $801 (+13.9%)

Branch County

Population

43,51344,914

Median household income

$51,947$61,958

Median home value

$109,800$147,500

Median gross rent

$753$900

Hillsdale County

Population

45,75745,658

Median household income

$49,622$60,869

Median home value

$120,100$170,500

Median gross rent

$703$801

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
Under 5	6.3%	5.5%
5 to 17	17.2%	16.1%
18 to 24	7.4%	9.4%
25 to 34	12.0%	10.5%
35 to 44	11.9%	10.8%
45 to 54	11.8%	12.0%
55 to 64	14.4%	14.9%
65 to 74	11.6%	12.8%
75 and over	7.4%	7.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
White (non-Hispanic)	87.6%	92.8%
Black or African American	1.9%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.4%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.6%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	2.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
No high school diploma	11.4%	9.5%
High school graduate	39.0%	40.6%
Some college or associate's	32.8%	29.3%
Bachelor's degree	12.0%	12.2%
Graduate or professional degree	4.9%	8.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
Drove alone	79.1%	77.1%
Carpooled	12.0%	8.6%
Public transit	0.2%	0.2%
Walked	1.8%	4.6%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.5%
Worked from home	5.0%	7.9%
Other means	1.7%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
1-unit, detached	74.5%	82.2%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	3.7%	3.1%
5 to 19 units	4.6%	3.0%
20 or more units	2.3%	2.1%
Mobile home & other	13.0%	9.1%

Poverty & households

	Branch County	Hillsdale County
Poverty rate	15.4%	15.5%
Average household size	2.54	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	23	25
Median year structure built	1969	1970