Macomb County vs Ottawa County

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

Macomb 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.

Macomb County has the higher population (877,624 vs 298,614 in Ottawa County). Ottawa County has the higher median household income ($87,144 vs $76,399 in Macomb County). Ottawa County has the higher median home value ($291,200 vs $231,400 in Macomb County).

Population, income & housing

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
Population	877,624	298,614
Median age	41.1 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$76,399	$87,144
Median home value	$231,400	$291,200
Median gross rent	$1,175	$1,148
Housing units	371,723	116,173
Homeownership rate	75.0%	78.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.2%	37.5%
Unemployment rate	5.8%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
Population	870,325 → 877,624 (+0.8%)	286,558 → 298,614 (+4.2%)
Median household income	$62,855 → $76,399 (+21.5%)	$69,314 → $87,144 (+25.7%)
Median home value	$166,800 → $231,400 (+38.7%)	$191,800 → $291,200 (+51.8%)
Median gross rent	$962 → $1,175 (+22.1%)	$898 → $1,148 (+27.8%)

Macomb County

Population

870,325877,624

Median household income

$62,855$76,399

Median home value

$166,800$231,400

Median gross rent

$962$1,175

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)

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
Under 5	5.3%	5.7%
5 to 17	15.5%	17.7%
18 to 24	7.8%	13.0%
25 to 34	13.8%	12.2%
35 to 44	12.1%	12.3%
45 to 54	13.2%	11.0%
55 to 64	14.4%	12.0%
65 to 74	10.6%	9.5%
75 and over	7.3%	6.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
White (non-Hispanic)	75.2%	82.4%
Black or African American	12.4%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	4.7%	2.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.1%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	3.1%	10.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
No high school diploma	9.2%	5.9%
High school graduate	29.0%	26.2%
Some college or associate's	34.6%	30.4%
Bachelor's degree	17.5%	24.5%
Graduate or professional degree	9.6%	13.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
Drove alone	77.8%	78.8%
Carpooled	8.0%	7.7%
Public transit	0.6%	0.5%
Walked	1.0%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.5%	9.4%
Other means	0.9%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
1-unit, detached	68.8%	69.6%
1-unit, attached	9.5%	7.7%
2 to 4 units	3.9%	5.8%
5 to 19 units	9.7%	7.7%
20 or more units	4.5%	3.8%
Mobile home & other	3.6%	5.5%

Poverty & households

	Macomb County	Ottawa County
Poverty rate	9.8%	8.2%
Average household size	2.44	2.62
Mean commute (minutes)	27	20
Median year structure built	1975	1987