Isabella County vs St. Joseph County

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

Isabella 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.

Isabella County has the higher population (64,475 vs 60,870 in St. Joseph County). St. Joseph County has the higher median household income ($64,707 vs $53,759 in Isabella County). St. Joseph County has the higher median home value ($167,600 vs $165,100 in Isabella County).

Population, income & housing

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
Population	64,475	60,870
Median age	29.8 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$53,759	$64,707
Median home value	$165,100	$167,600
Median gross rent	$863	$825
Housing units	28,600	27,248
Homeownership rate	61.3%	75.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.8%	17.1%
Unemployment rate	6.8%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
Population	70,688 → 64,475 (-8.8%)	60,836 → 60,870 (+0.1%)
Median household income	$45,116 → $53,759 (+19.2%)	$52,086 → $64,707 (+24.2%)
Median home value	$134,900 → $165,100 (+22.4%)	$122,300 → $167,600 (+37.0%)
Median gross rent	$736 → $863 (+17.3%)	$722 → $825 (+14.3%)

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

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)

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
Under 5	4.6%	6.2%
5 to 17	13.1%	18.2%
18 to 24	26.0%	7.8%
25 to 34	12.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	10.3%	11.7%
45 to 54	9.5%	11.6%
55 to 64	10.7%	14.0%
65 to 74	8.5%	11.4%
75 and over	5.2%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
White (non-Hispanic)	83.6%	84.4%
Black or African American	2.7%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.6%	0.0%
Asian	1.5%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	4.3%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	4.9%	9.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
No high school diploma	8.0%	13.7%
High school graduate	30.4%	36.3%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	32.9%
Bachelor's degree	17.1%	10.8%
Graduate or professional degree	13.7%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
Drove alone	76.5%	74.2%
Carpooled	8.8%	15.1%
Public transit	0.5%	0.1%
Walked	6.6%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.7%	1.3%
Worked from home	6.4%	6.1%
Other means	0.5%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
1-unit, detached	59.2%	78.2%
1-unit, attached	3.8%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	14.0%	5.9%
20 or more units	6.9%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	9.3%	7.8%

Poverty & households

	Isabella County	St. Joseph County
Poverty rate	23.2%	12.0%
Average household size	2.37	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	19	21
Median year structure built	1983	1970