City · Marquette County, Michigan

Ishpeming, Michigan

Ishpeming is a city in Marquette County, Michigan, part of the Marquette, MI metro area. It has 6,181 residents. Ishpeming, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 72 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,447 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #84 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on median Air Quality Index (low), natural hazard risk (low) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on comfortable days (low), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and distance to an airport (high).

72High

Quality-of-life score: #4,447 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #84 of 444 in MI
Population: 6,181 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 706.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2641220

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety70#4,673/15,637
Economy19#12,621/15,631
Housing47#8,008/14,977
Health40#9,362/15,609
Healthcare84#2,455/15,650
Environment94#879/15,453
Education64#5,664/15,649
Infrastructure39#9,512/15,650
Community82#2,853/15,651
Leisure & amenities92#1,187/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Median Air Quality Index · low19
98/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMarquette County value
Natural hazard risk · low2.0
97/100Michigan 10.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMarquette County value
Hot days · low1 days
97/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMarquette County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.1 µg/m³
96/100Michigan 8.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMarquette County value
Primary care physicians · high123 /100k
93/100Michigan 81 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMarquette County value
Mammography screening · high55.0%
91/100Michigan 49.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMarquette County value

Weaknesses

Comfortable days · low20.0%
0/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMarquette County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high225 mi
2/100Michigan 25 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMarquette County value
Distance to an airport · high162 mi
2/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMarquette County value
Depression · high30.1%
5/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · high25.4 /100k
8/100Michigan 14.5 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMarquette County value
Days with unhealthy air · high4.2%
9/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMarquette County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.0% (2015-2019) → 90.7% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
38.9% (2015-2019) → 52.7% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.0% (2015-2019) → 28.0% (2020-2024)
+9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
25.4% (2015-2019) → 31.1% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Poverty rateWorsening
14.7% (2015-2019) → 18.7% (2020-2024)
+4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$46,299 (2015-2019) → $52,754 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Ishpeming, Michigan improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved2

Broadband+15 points76.0% → 90.7%
Household income+14%$46,299 → $52,754

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Ishpeming, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.8 min2015-2019	18.8 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.6%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Broadband subscriptions	76.0%2015-2019	90.7%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	78%
Child poverty rate	19.0%2015-2019	28.0%2020-2024	+9 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Effective property tax rate	1.76%2015-2019	1.43%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
High school diploma or higher	94.0%2015-2019	95.7%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4242015-2019	0.4372020-2024	+0.013	Within the margin of error	39%
Median household income	$46,2992015-2019	$52,7542020-2024	+14%	Improved	22%
Poverty rate	14.7%2015-2019	18.7%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Rent as share of income	25.4%2015-2019	31.1%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Rent-burdened households	38.9%2015-2019	52.7%2020-2024	+14 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Unemployment rate	8.1%2015-2019	6.4%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	6.5%2015-2019	3.7%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	75%

“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 Ishpeming, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ishpeming, 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, Ishpeming, Michigan itself moved −7.9 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

6,181 residents (±20)

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

2,514 households (±181)

Ishpeming, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k25%633
$25k–50k20%505
$50k–75k23%574

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,514 households (±181)

Ishpeming, Michigan
Michigan share

Own70%1,754
Rent30%760

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

2,800 workers (±249)

Ishpeming, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone76%2,119
Carpool7.7%†216
Public transit0.0%0

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 Marquette, 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 Marquette County, the county holding most of Ishpeming's residents.

Marquette County has 1,655 employer establishments, 245 for every 10,000 residents (0.99× the US rate of 248; 1.07× Michigan's), with 21,827 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,391. The Census Bureau also counts 4,109 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,655; 4,109 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 245; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 21,827
Average annual pay: $49,391; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	139	20.6	0.99×About typical	2,154	$72,272	238
Restaurants and other eating places	122	18.1	0.98×About typical	2,324	$21,652	4
Specialty trade contractors	96	14.2	0.92×About typical	663	$71,579	250
Construction of buildings	81	12	1.59×More than typical	473	$52,932	116
Religious organizations	59	8.7	1.57×More than typical	341	$21,370	—
Full-service restaurants	57	8.4	1.10×About typical	1,091	$23,478	—
Offices of other health practitioners	53	7.8	1.29×More than typical	279	$49,556	152
Lessors of real estate	48	7.1	0.58×Fewer than typical	222	$42,586	452
Limited-service restaurants	46	6.8	0.85×About typical	1,078	$19,434	3
Automotive repair and maintenance	39	5.8	1.15×About typical	208	$54,514	32
Services to buildings and dwellings	34	5	0.75×Fewer than typical	159	$31,931	234
Building equipment contractors	33	4.9	0.81×About typical	298	$68,789	30

Rank places for an industry Open Marquette County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 67,556 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 $325 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Ishpeming, Michigan: $0.05 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $325
Per resident: $0.05; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Department of the Army$325100%

Top recipients

JACMEALS L.L.C.$325100%

Spending by fiscal year

3.7KFY2017
1.3KFY2018
5.3KFY2019
2.7KFY2020
3.2KFY2021
1.5KFY2022
-972.3FY2023
1KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Special food services · 7223$325100%

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 Ishpeming, Michigan, so they do not add up across cities.

Ishpeming, Michigan's figures are part of those of Marquette County, MI ($895.9K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Marquette 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.

Ishpeming, 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.

Marquette County82100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Marquette, MI84

Other cities and towns in Marquette 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/2641220

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends