Kalamazoo’s Median Household Income Dropped in 2018

Bucking a trend of statewide growth, Kalamazoo Country was one of only a half-dozen out of 29 counties to show a loss in median household income.

U.S. Census data has just been released and at least one statistic is not good for Kalamazoo. Measuring counties and communities with a population of at least 65,000, nearly 75% showed growth in the area of median household income. Kalamazoo County did not. The Census Bureau defines median household income as "the income of the householder and all other individuals 15 years old and over in the household, whether they are related to the householder or not" in the past 12 months.

MLive did the math and here's what they found about Kalamazoo County:

Kalamazoo County had an estimated median household income of $55,416 in 2018, and a median family income of $77,558. (The former covers all households, including single people living alone. The latter group covers households with at least two residents related to each other.)

Kalamazoo had an overall poverty rate of 14.6% in 2018, and a childhood poverty rate of 18%.

In 2018, 39% of county adults age 25 and older had a bachelor's degree.

Other counties showing a dip in income were Allegan, Jackson, Kent, Lenawee, Midland, Shiawassee, and St. Clair Counties.

The counties were also ranked, based on median household income and Kalamazoo County was 16th of the 29 measured.