City · Crawford County, Michigan

Grayling, Michigan

Grayling is a city in Crawford County, Michigan. It has 1,671 residents. Grayling, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,445 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #292 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), homicide rate (low) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), median household income (low) and poverty rate (high).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,445 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #292 of 444 in MI
Population: 1,671 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 815.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2634640

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.

Safety58#6,525/15,637
Economy8#14,446/15,631
Housing19#12,130/14,977
Health31#10,701/15,609
Healthcare31#10,732/15,650
Environment78#3,329/15,453
Education44#8,712/15,649
Infrastructure35#10,146/15,650
Community67#5,113/15,651
Leisure & amenities32#10,584/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Grayling, Michigan ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Crawford 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

Restaurants and bars · high16.8 /10k
97/100Michigan 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCrawford County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Michigan 4.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCrawford County value
Voter turnout · high77.9%
93/100Michigan 74.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionCrawford County value
Public EV charging ports · high13.9 /10k
89/100Michigan 5.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCrawford County value
Hot days · low4 days
89/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCrawford County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,924 /100k
87/100Michigan 3,367 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCrawford County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-10.7%
0/100Michigan 0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataCrawford County value
Median household income · low$32,545
2/100Michigan $72,336United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Poverty rate · high31.9%
3/100Michigan 13.4%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Distance to an airport · high130 mi
4/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCrawford County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Michigan 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCrawford County value
Depression · high30.4%
5/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,981 (2015-2019) → 1,671 (2020-2024)
−16%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.8× (2015-2019) → 4.9× (2020-2024)
+79%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
42.6% (2015-2019) → 31.9% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
14.6 min (2015-2019) → 19.0 min (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.1% (2015-2019) → 83.6% (2020-2024)
+5.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Unemployment rateImproving
9.8% (2015-2019) → 4.6% (2020-2024)
−5.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Grayling, Michigan improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Price / income+2.2×2.8× → 4.9×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Grayling, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.6 min2015-2019	19.0 min2020-2024	+4.4 min	Within the margin of error	12%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.8%2015-2019	14.4%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Broadband subscriptions	78.1%2015-2019	83.6%2020-2024	+5.5 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Child poverty rate	42.6%2015-2019	31.9%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Effective property tax rate	1.80%2015-2019	1.36%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	88%
High school diploma or higher	86.3%2015-2019	84.8%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	4.9×2020-2024	+2.2×	Declined	3%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4822015-2019	0.4722020-2024	−0.009	Within the margin of error	59%
Median household income	$26,8752015-2019	$32,5452020-2024	+21%	Within the margin of error	35%
Poverty rate	33.3%2015-2019	31.9%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent as share of income	32.9%2015-2019	32.0%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Rent-burdened households	56.4%2015-2019	56.4%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.9%2015-2019	11.1%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	18%

“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 Grayling, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Grayling, 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, Grayling, Michigan itself moved −4.6 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

1,671 residents (±273)

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

755 households (±129)

Grayling, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k43%327
$25k–50k21%†161
$50k–75k19%†143

Homes

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

Owners and renters

755 households (±129)

Grayling, Michigan
Michigan share

Own42%318
Rent58%437

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

514 workers (±101)

Grayling, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone69%356
Carpool14%†70
Public transit2.5%†13

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 Crawford County, the county holding most of Grayling's residents.

Crawford County has 320 employer establishments, 236 for every 10,000 residents (0.95× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Michigan's), with 3,715 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,972. The Census Bureau also counts 917 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 320; 917 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 236; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 3,715
Average annual pay: $51,972; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	30	22.1	1.21×About typical	445	$19,661	—
Specialty trade contractors	16	11.8	0.76×Fewer than typical	65	$57,969	104
Ambulatory health care services	15	11.1	0.53×Fewer than typical	112	$164,848	32
Limited-service restaurants	15	11.1	1.38×More than typical	216	$19,556	—
Full-service restaurants	14	10.3	1.35×More than typical	215	$19,163	—
Gasoline stations	10	7.4	2.28×More than typical	89	$31,787	—
Building equipment contractors	8	5.9	0.98×Too few to compare	44	$52,250	14
Construction of buildings	8	5.9	0.78×Too few to compare	24	$49,667	39
Services to buildings and dwellings	8	5.9	0.88×Too few to compare	44	$34,864	76
Truck transportation	8	5.9	1.17×Too few to compare	76	$64,382	29
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	7	5.2	4.26×Too few to compare	73	$22,082	—
Lessors of real estate	7	5.2	0.42×Too few to compare	10	$33,700	110

Rank places for an industry Open Crawford County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,545 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Crawford 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.

Grayling, 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.

Crawford County56100% of residents

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/2634640

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends