Eaton County vs Grand Traverse County

A side-by-side comparison of Eaton County and Grand Traverse County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Eaton County has the higher population (109,000 vs 95,757 in Grand Traverse County). Grand Traverse County has the higher median household income ($79,486 vs $78,025 in Eaton County). Grand Traverse County has the higher median home value ($296,200 vs $206,700 in Eaton County).

Population, income & housing

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
Population	109,000	95,757
Median age	41.2 yrs	43.1 yrs
Median household income	$78,025	$79,486
Median home value	$206,700	$296,200
Median gross rent	$1,042	$1,215
Housing units	47,650	46,435
Homeownership rate	74.2%	76.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.4%	40.3%
Unemployment rate	4.4%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
Population	109,456 → 109,000 (-0.4%)	92,181 → 95,757 (+3.9%)
Median household income	$64,348 → $78,025 (+21.3%)	$63,575 → $79,486 (+25.0%)
Median home value	$155,000 → $206,700 (+33.4%)	$212,500 → $296,200 (+39.4%)
Median gross rent	$858 → $1,042 (+21.4%)	$951 → $1,215 (+27.8%)

Eaton County

Population

109,456109,000

Median household income

$64,348$78,025

Median home value

$155,000$206,700

Median gross rent

$858$1,042

Grand Traverse County

Population

92,18195,757

Median household income

$63,575$79,486

Median home value

$212,500$296,200

Median gross rent

$951$1,215

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
Under 5	5.2%	4.8%
5 to 17	15.4%	14.9%
18 to 24	8.0%	7.5%
25 to 34	13.0%	12.3%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.3%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.1%
55 to 64	14.2%	14.8%
65 to 74	11.8%	13.1%
75 and over	7.8%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.6%	91.3%
Black or African American	6.8%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.5%
Asian	2.2%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.6%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	6.2%	3.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
No high school diploma	5.5%	4.9%
High school graduate	27.4%	21.7%
Some college or associate's	36.7%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	19.9%	23.5%
Graduate or professional degree	10.5%	16.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
Drove alone	74.0%	71.3%
Carpooled	8.8%	9.9%
Public transit	0.7%	0.8%
Walked	1.4%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.3%
Worked from home	13.8%	13.7%
Other means	1.0%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
1-unit, detached	69.4%	72.5%
1-unit, attached	4.1%	4.4%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	4.4%
5 to 19 units	10.6%	6.6%
20 or more units	6.1%	5.4%
Mobile home & other	5.0%	6.8%

Poverty & households

	Eaton County	Grand Traverse County
Poverty rate	7.7%	8.6%
Average household size	2.38	2.37
Mean commute (minutes)	23	21
Median year structure built	1976	1986