Genesee County vs Ottawa County

A side-by-side comparison of Genesee County and Ottawa County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Genesee County has the higher population (404,087 vs 298,614 in Ottawa County). Ottawa County has the higher median household income ($87,144 vs $60,673 in Genesee County). Ottawa County has the higher median home value ($291,200 vs $172,900 in Genesee County).

Population, income & housing

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
Population	404,087	298,614
Median age	40.6 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$60,673	$87,144
Median home value	$172,900	$291,200
Median gross rent	$936	$1,148
Housing units	183,729	116,173
Homeownership rate	70.8%	78.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.8%	37.5%
Unemployment rate	8.3%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
Population	407,875 → 404,087 (-0.9%)	286,558 → 298,614 (+4.2%)
Median household income	$48,588 → $60,673 (+24.9%)	$69,314 → $87,144 (+25.7%)
Median home value	$111,100 → $172,900 (+55.6%)	$191,800 → $291,200 (+51.8%)
Median gross rent	$767 → $936 (+22.0%)	$898 → $1,148 (+27.8%)

Genesee County

Population

407,875404,087

Median household income

$48,588$60,673

Median home value

$111,100$172,900

Median gross rent

$767$936

Ottawa County

Population

286,558298,614

Median household income

$69,314$87,144

Median home value

$191,800$291,200

Median gross rent

$898$1,148

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
Under 5	5.6%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.7%	17.7%
18 to 24	8.2%	13.0%
25 to 34	12.8%	12.2%
35 to 44	11.7%	12.3%
45 to 54	12.5%	11.0%
55 to 64	14.0%	12.0%
65 to 74	11.1%	9.5%
75 and over	7.3%	6.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
White (non-Hispanic)	70.6%	82.4%
Black or African American	19.2%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	0.9%	2.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.4%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	4.1%	10.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
No high school diploma	9.1%	5.9%
High school graduate	31.6%	26.2%
Some college or associate's	36.5%	30.4%
Bachelor's degree	14.9%	24.5%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	13.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
Drove alone	79.1%	78.8%
Carpooled	8.8%	7.7%
Public transit	1.1%	0.5%
Walked	1.0%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.4%
Worked from home	9.2%	9.4%
Other means	0.7%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
1-unit, detached	73.7%	69.6%
1-unit, attached	5.4%	7.7%
2 to 4 units	3.1%	5.8%
5 to 19 units	7.5%	7.7%
20 or more units	4.5%	3.8%
Mobile home & other	5.7%	5.5%

Poverty & households

	Genesee County	Ottawa County
Poverty rate	15.9%	8.2%
Average household size	2.40	2.62
Mean commute (minutes)	27	20
Median year structure built	1969	1987