Kalamazoo County vs Washtenaw County

A side-by-side comparison of Kalamazoo County and Washtenaw County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Washtenaw County has the higher population (368,394 vs 261,437 in Kalamazoo County). Washtenaw County has the higher median household income ($87,156 vs $70,525 in Kalamazoo County). Washtenaw County has the higher median home value ($353,000 vs $227,500 in Kalamazoo County).

Population, income & housing

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
Population	261,437	368,394
Median age	34.9 yrs	34.8 yrs
Median household income	$70,525	$87,156
Median home value	$227,500	$353,000
Median gross rent	$1,049	$1,400
Housing units	114,463	158,115
Homeownership rate	64.0%	61.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.8%	58.1%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
Population	262,745 → 261,437 (-0.5%)	367,000 → 368,394 (+0.4%)
Median household income	$56,511 → $70,525 (+24.8%)	$72,586 → $87,156 (+20.1%)
Median home value	$159,300 → $227,500 (+42.8%)	$263,600 → $353,000 (+33.9%)
Median gross rent	$812 → $1,049 (+29.2%)	$1,114 → $1,400 (+25.7%)

Kalamazoo County

Population

262,745261,437

Median household income

$56,511$70,525

Median home value

$159,300$227,500

Median gross rent

$812$1,049

Washtenaw County

Population

367,000368,394

Median household income

$72,586$87,156

Median home value

$263,600$353,000

Median gross rent

$1,114$1,400

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
Under 5	5.6%	4.6%
5 to 17	15.9%	13.7%
18 to 24	15.0%	17.6%
25 to 34	13.6%	14.2%
35 to 44	12.1%	11.9%
45 to 54	10.8%	11.3%
55 to 64	11.2%	11.3%
65 to 74	9.5%	9.2%
75 and over	6.3%	6.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
White (non-Hispanic)	75.2%	67.9%
Black or African American	10.6%	11.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	2.7%	8.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.5%
Two or more races	5.2%	5.5%
Hispanic or Latino	5.8%	5.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
No high school diploma	5.7%	4.2%
High school graduate	22.5%	14.2%
Some college or associate's	31.0%	23.4%
Bachelor's degree	24.5%	27.1%
Graduate or professional degree	16.3%	31.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
Drove alone	77.8%	61.9%
Carpooled	6.5%	6.3%
Public transit	1.1%	3.8%
Walked	2.5%	5.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.0%
Worked from home	11.3%	20.3%
Other means	0.6%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
1-unit, detached	64.1%	57.0%
1-unit, attached	3.2%	7.1%
2 to 4 units	6.0%	6.6%
5 to 19 units	14.1%	16.8%
20 or more units	9.4%	8.7%
Mobile home & other	3.2%	3.8%

Poverty & households

	Kalamazoo County	Washtenaw County
Poverty rate	13.3%	13.8%
Average household size	2.39	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	20	23
Median year structure built	1975	1978