Chippewa County vs Mecosta County

A side-by-side comparison of Chippewa County and Mecosta County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Mecosta County has the higher population (40,321 vs 36,448 in Chippewa County). Chippewa County has the higher median household income ($60,631 vs $57,774 in Mecosta County). Mecosta County has the higher median home value ($169,900 vs $153,100 in Chippewa County).

Population, income & housing

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
Population	36,448	40,321
Median age	41.3 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$60,631	$57,774
Median home value	$153,100	$169,900
Median gross rent	$793	$867
Housing units	20,340	21,045
Homeownership rate	73.7%	75.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.9%	22.7%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	5.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
Population	37,629 → 36,448 (-3.1%)	43,251 → 40,321 (-6.8%)
Median household income	$46,486 → $60,631 (+30.4%)	$45,018 → $57,774 (+28.3%)
Median home value	$119,100 → $153,100 (+28.5%)	$121,400 → $169,900 (+40.0%)
Median gross rent	$674 → $793 (+17.7%)	$712 → $867 (+21.8%)

Chippewa County

Population

37,62936,448

Median household income

$46,486$60,631

Median home value

$119,100$153,100

Median gross rent

$674$793

Mecosta County

Population

43,25140,321

Median household income

$45,018$57,774

Median home value

$121,400$169,900

Median gross rent

$712$867

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
Under 5	4.5%	5.2%
5 to 17	13.5%	14.4%
18 to 24	11.8%	14.0%
25 to 34	13.1%	10.6%
35 to 44	12.2%	10.4%
45 to 54	12.2%	10.7%
55 to 64	13.5%	14.5%
65 to 74	11.4%	12.4%
75 and over	7.7%	7.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
White (non-Hispanic)	67.5%	90.0%
Black or African American	5.6%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	12.8%	0.7%
Asian	0.9%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.1%
Two or more races	10.2%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	2.2%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
No high school diploma	7.2%	8.3%
High school graduate	36.3%	36.7%
Some college or associate's	34.7%	32.4%
Bachelor's degree	13.5%	14.6%
Graduate or professional degree	8.3%	8.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
Drove alone	76.8%	78.0%
Carpooled	8.8%	8.3%
Public transit	0.4%	0.5%
Walked	3.5%	5.0%
Bicycle	1.8%	0.2%
Worked from home	6.9%	6.7%
Other means	1.9%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
1-unit, detached	77.5%	70.2%
1-unit, attached	4.1%	1.3%
2 to 4 units	4.0%	5.0%
5 to 19 units	3.1%	4.7%
20 or more units	3.0%	1.5%
Mobile home & other	8.3%	17.3%

Poverty & households

	Chippewa County	Mecosta County
Poverty rate	15.6%	19.2%
Average household size	2.34	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	18	24
Median year structure built	1976	1980