Isabella County vs Montcalm County

A side-by-side comparison of Isabella County and Montcalm County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Montcalm County has the higher population (67,174 vs 64,475 in Isabella County). Montcalm County has the higher median household income ($64,892 vs $53,759 in Isabella County). Montcalm County has the higher median home value ($172,100 vs $165,100 in Isabella County).

Population, income & housing

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
Population	64,475	67,174
Median age	29.8 yrs	40.1 yrs
Median household income	$53,759	$64,892
Median home value	$165,100	$172,100
Median gross rent	$863	$867
Housing units	28,600	28,046
Homeownership rate	61.3%	82.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.8%	14.9%
Unemployment rate	6.8%	4.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
Population	70,688 → 64,475 (-8.8%)	63,413 → 67,174 (+5.9%)
Median household income	$45,116 → $53,759 (+19.2%)	$49,448 → $64,892 (+31.2%)
Median home value	$134,900 → $165,100 (+22.4%)	$113,900 → $172,100 (+51.1%)
Median gross rent	$736 → $863 (+17.3%)	$697 → $867 (+24.4%)

Isabella County

Population

70,68864,475

Median household income

$45,116$53,759

Median home value

$134,900$165,100

Median gross rent

$736$863

Montcalm County

Population

63,41367,174

Median household income

$49,448$64,892

Median home value

$113,900$172,100

Median gross rent

$697$867

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
Under 5	4.6%	5.2%
5 to 17	13.1%	15.9%
18 to 24	26.0%	7.9%
25 to 34	12.1%	13.9%
35 to 44	10.3%	12.5%
45 to 54	9.5%	13.1%
55 to 64	10.7%	14.0%
65 to 74	8.5%	10.8%
75 and over	5.2%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
White (non-Hispanic)	83.6%	87.6%
Black or African American	2.7%	3.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.6%	0.3%
Asian	1.5%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.6%
Two or more races	4.3%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	4.9%	4.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
No high school diploma	8.0%	11.7%
High school graduate	30.4%	39.8%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	33.5%
Bachelor's degree	17.1%	10.0%
Graduate or professional degree	13.7%	4.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
Drove alone	76.5%	81.5%
Carpooled	8.8%	9.3%
Public transit	0.5%	0.1%
Walked	6.6%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.7%	0.1%
Worked from home	6.4%	6.1%
Other means	0.5%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
1-unit, detached	59.2%	76.9%
1-unit, attached	3.8%	1.2%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	3.5%
5 to 19 units	14.0%	2.8%
20 or more units	6.9%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	9.3%	13.7%

Poverty & households

	Isabella County	Montcalm County
Poverty rate	23.2%	12.0%
Average household size	2.37	2.67
Mean commute (minutes)	19	30
Median year structure built	1983	1977