City · Delta County, Michigan

Escanaba, Michigan

Escanaba is a city in Delta County, Michigan, part of the Escanaba, MI metro area. It has 12,354 residents. Escanaba, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 55 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,058 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #144 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), hot days (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), depression (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

55Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,058 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #144 of 444 in MI
Population: 12,354 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 969.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2626360

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety53#7,318/15,637
Economy7#14,530/15,631
Housing94#856/14,977
Health25#11,702/15,609
Healthcare53#7,354/15,650
Environment94#862/15,453
Education28#11,280/15,649
Infrastructure23#11,976/15,650
Community73#4,302/15,651
Leisure & amenities88#1,948/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Escanaba, Michigan ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Delta County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Average commute time · low11.0 min
100/100Michigan 24.2 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Hot days · low0 days
99/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDelta County value
Rent-burdened households · low33.5%
94/100Michigan 50.4%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Social associations · high15.5 /10k
92/100Michigan 9.6 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDelta County value
Rent as share of income · low25.1%
91/100Michigan 30.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Restaurants and bars · high12.9 /10k
90/100Michigan 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDelta County value

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high32.6 /100k
2/100Michigan 14.5 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDelta County value
Depression · high32.1%
2/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an Amtrak station · high195 mi
3/100Michigan 25 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDelta County value
Firearm deaths · high27.2 /100k
4/100Michigan 12.4 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDelta County value
Comfortable days · low22.2%
4/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDelta County value
Distance to an airport · high128 mi
4/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDelta County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
45.7% (2015-2019) → 33.5% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.3% (2015-2019) → 84.9% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
12.2% (2015-2019) → 6.5% (2020-2024)
−5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Median household incomeImproving
$35,813 (2015-2019) → $45,369 (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
28.6% (2015-2019) → 25.1% (2020-2024)
−3.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
93.0% (2015-2019) → 89.6% (2020-2024)
−3.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Escanaba, Michigan improved on 6 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 7 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved6

Property tax−0.5 points1.70% → 1.23%
Uninsured−5.7 points12.2% → 6.5%
Rent burden−12 points45.7% → 33.5%
Rent / income−3.5 points28.6% → 25.1%
Broadband+8.6 points76.3% → 84.9%

Declined1

Price / income+0.4×2.4× → 2.8×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Escanaba, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.2 min2015-2019	11.0 min2020-2024	−1.2 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.5%2015-2019	19.8%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Broadband subscriptions	76.3%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Improved	53%
Child poverty rate	22.2%2015-2019	20.0%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Effective property tax rate	1.70%2015-2019	1.23%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Improved	89%
High school diploma or higher	93.0%2015-2019	89.6%2020-2024	−3.4 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+0.4×	Declined	57%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4692015-2019	0.5032020-2024	+0.035	Within the margin of error	24%
Median household income	$35,8132015-2019	$45,3692020-2024	+27%	Improved	48%
Poverty rate	19.0%2015-2019	17.7%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Rent as share of income	28.6%2015-2019	25.1%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Improved	76%
Rent-burdened households	45.7%2015-2019	33.5%2020-2024	−12 points	Improved	86%
Unemployment rate	6.0%2015-2019	5.2%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.2%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	−5.7 points	Improved	89%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Escanaba, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Escanaba, Michigan in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Escanaba, Michigan itself moved +0 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

12,354 residents (±42)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,715 households (±204)

Escanaba, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k28%1,626
$25k–50k27%1,519
$50k–75k19%1,105

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,715 households (±204)

Escanaba, Michigan
Michigan share

Own64%3,653
Rent36%2,062

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,871 workers (±353)

Escanaba, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone77%3,741
Carpool10%†511
Public transit0.8%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Escanaba, MI

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Delta County, the county holding most of Escanaba's residents.

Delta County has 991 employer establishments, 269 for every 10,000 residents (1.08× the US rate of 248; 1.18× Michigan's), with 11,596 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,253. The Census Bureau also counts 2,033 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 991; 2,033 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 269; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 11,596
Average annual pay: $47,253; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Delta County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	62	16.8	1.09×About typical	312	$63,776	168
Ambulatory health care services	61	16.6	0.79×Fewer than typical	397	$92,458	63
Restaurants and other eating places	58	15.8	0.86×About typical	958	$18,323	3
Construction of buildings	37	10	1.33×More than typical	150	$62,273	78
Religious organizations	37	10	1.81×More than typical	144	$19,076	—
Truck transportation	35	9.5	1.88×More than typical	240	$46,446	49
Automotive repair and maintenance	34	9.2	1.83×More than typical	186	$47,699	36
Limited-service restaurants	27	7.3	0.91×About typical	563	$19,329	—
Full-service restaurants	24	6.5	0.85×About typical	342	$16,977	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	24	6.5	0.97×About typical	65	$29,308	122
Offices of other health practitioners	23	6.2	1.03×About typical	68	$50,750	25
Building equipment contractors	22	6	0.99×About typical	166	$65,404	17

Rank places for an industry Open Delta County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 36,820 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $964.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Escanaba, Michigan: $78.08 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $964.6K; +236% vs FY2025
Per resident: $78.08; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 7.8%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

U.S. Coast Guard$955K99%
Federal Acquisition Service$9,5531.0%

Top recipients

NORTH SHORE MARINE TERMINAL & LOGISTICS INC$869.6K90%
BLUEWATER MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC$85.4K8.9%
EAN HOLDINGS, LLC$9,5531.0%
K & M INDUSTRIAL LLC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

373.6KFY2017
-205.3FY2018
107.8KFY2019
189.1KFY2020
113.8KFY2021
91.5KFY2022
281.7KFY2023
58KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Ship and boat building · 3366$869.6K90%
Traveler accommodation · 7211$85.4K8.9%
Automotive equipment rental and leasing · 5321$9,5531.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Escanaba, Michigan, so they do not add up across cities.

Escanaba, Michigan's figures are part of those of Delta County, MI ($13.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 7.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Escanaba is mostly in Delta County.

See federal money in Delta County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Escanaba, Michigan is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Jack BergmanR-MI-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.4%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Delta County72100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Escanaba, MI70

Other cities and towns in Delta County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2626360

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends