Ionia County vs St. Joseph County

A side-by-side comparison of Ionia County and St. Joseph County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Ionia County has the higher population (66,706 vs 60,870 in St. Joseph County). Ionia County has the higher median household income ($73,436 vs $64,707 in St. Joseph County). Ionia County has the higher median home value ($189,400 vs $167,600 in St. Joseph County).

Population, income & housing

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
Population	66,706	60,870
Median age	38.8 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$73,436	$64,707
Median home value	$189,400	$167,600
Median gross rent	$840	$825
Housing units	24,746	27,248
Homeownership rate	77.2%	75.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.0%	17.1%
Unemployment rate	4.9%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
Population	64,300 → 66,706 (+3.7%)	60,836 → 60,870 (+0.1%)
Median household income	$57,043 → $73,436 (+28.7%)	$52,086 → $64,707 (+24.2%)
Median home value	$131,800 → $189,400 (+43.7%)	$122,300 → $167,600 (+37.0%)
Median gross rent	$768 → $840 (+9.4%)	$722 → $825 (+14.3%)

Ionia County

Population

64,30066,706

Median household income

$57,043$73,436

Median home value

$131,800$189,400

Median gross rent

$768$840

St. Joseph County

Population

60,83660,870

Median household income

$52,086$64,707

Median home value

$122,300$167,600

Median gross rent

$722$825

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
Under 5	5.2%	6.2%
5 to 17	16.0%	18.2%
18 to 24	8.9%	7.8%
25 to 34	14.7%	12.0%
35 to 44	14.0%	11.7%
45 to 54	12.7%	11.6%
55 to 64	13.1%	14.0%
65 to 74	9.8%	11.4%
75 and over	5.6%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.7%	84.4%
Black or African American	3.7%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.0%
Asian	0.5%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	5.2%	9.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
No high school diploma	8.6%	13.7%
High school graduate	38.2%	36.3%
Some college or associate's	35.1%	32.9%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	10.8%
Graduate or professional degree	5.1%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
Drove alone	80.1%	74.2%
Carpooled	7.3%	15.1%
Public transit	1.4%	0.1%
Walked	2.2%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.3%
Worked from home	8.3%	6.1%
Other means	0.6%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
1-unit, detached	75.5%	78.2%
1-unit, attached	1.3%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	3.7%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	4.6%	5.9%
20 or more units	3.9%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	11.1%	7.8%

Poverty & households

	Ionia County	St. Joseph County
Poverty rate	11.4%	12.0%
Average household size	2.75	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	27	21
Median year structure built	1972	1970