Village · Kalkaska County, Michigan

Kalkaska, Michigan

Kalkaska is a village in Kalkaska County, Michigan, part of the Traverse City, MI metro area. It has 2,539 residents. Kalkaska, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 31 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,871 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #312 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), job growth (high) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on depression (high), pharmacies (low) and gyms and fitness centers (low).

31Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,871 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #312 of 444 in MI
Population: 2,539 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 963.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2642260

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety47#8,281/15,637
Economy44#8,737/15,631
Housing87#2,007/14,977
Health18#12,802/15,609
Healthcare23#12,032/15,650
Environment87#1,998/15,453
Education26#11,616/15,649
Infrastructure9#14,279/15,650
Community32#10,636/15,651
Leisure & amenities12#13,815/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Natural hazard risk · low1.4
98/100Michigan 10.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyKalkaska County value
Job growth · high3.9%
97/100Michigan 0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataKalkaska County value
Voter turnout · high80.1%
96/100Michigan 74.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionKalkaska County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Michigan 4.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataKalkaska County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low108 min
93/100Michigan 163 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesKalkaska County value
Rent-burdened households · low22.9%
90/100Michigan 50.4%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Depression · high30.8%
4/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Pharmacies · low0.5 /10k
4/100Michigan 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsKalkaska County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Michigan 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsKalkaska County value
Distance to an airport · high128 mi
4/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauKalkaska County value
Comfortable days · low22.7%
6/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationKalkaska County value
Primary care physicians · low22 /100k
6/100Michigan 81 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKalkaska County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,076 (2015-2019) → 2,539 (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
68.3% (2015-2019) → 85.0% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
6.6% (2015-2019) → 18.6% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
34.8% (2015-2019) → 22.9% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$35,789 (2015-2019) → $57,143 (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
22.0% (2015-2019) → 13.3% (2020-2024)
−8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Kalkaska, Michigan improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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.

Improved4

Property tax−0.5 points1.49% → 0.95%
Bachelor's++12 points6.6% → 18.6%
Household income+60%$35,789 → $57,143
Broadband+17 points68.3% → 85.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Kalkaska, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.2 min2015-2019	21.5 min2020-2024	+3.3 min	Within the margin of error	18%
Bachelor's degree or higher	6.6%2015-2019	18.6%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	94%
Broadband subscriptions	68.3%2015-2019	85.0%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	84%
Child poverty rate	26.9%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Effective property tax rate	1.49%2015-2019	0.95%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Improved	92%
High school diploma or higher	82.7%2015-2019	87.8%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	55%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4102015-2019	0.3962020-2024	−0.015	Within the margin of error	63%
Median household income	$35,7892015-2019	$57,1432020-2024	+60%	Improved	91%
Poverty rate	22.0%2015-2019	13.3%2020-2024	−8.7 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.7%2015-2019	23.0%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Rent-burdened households	34.8%2015-2019	22.9%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	85%

“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 Kalkaska, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Kalkaska, 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, Kalkaska, Michigan itself moved +9.7 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

2,539 residents (±331)

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

1,118 households (±175)

Kalkaska, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k24%†263
$25k–50k22%†247
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,118 households (±175)

Kalkaska, Michigan
Michigan share

Own67%747
Rent33%371

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+20.1 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,082 workers (±201)

Kalkaska, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone87%940
Carpool6.5%†70
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 Traverse City, 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 Kalkaska County, the county holding most of Kalkaska's residents.

Kalkaska County has 353 employer establishments, 192 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Michigan's), with 4,120 paid employees at an average annual pay of $64,658. The Census Bureau also counts 1,482 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 353; 1,482 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 192; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 4,120
Average annual pay: $64,658; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	31	16.8	1.09×About typical	176	$57,557	189
Automotive repair and maintenance	20	10.9	2.16×More than typical	51	$36,941	21
Restaurants and other eating places	20	10.9	0.59×Fewer than typical	375	$20,869	5
Building equipment contractors	16	8.7	1.44×More than typical	103	$55,942	20
Construction of buildings	15	8.1	1.08×About typical	51	$54,000	137
Ambulatory health care services	14	7.6	0.36×Fewer than typical	121	$70,488	42
Gasoline stations	11	6	1.84×More than typical	112	$22,768	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	6	0.89×About typical	12	$88,583	179
Truck transportation	11	6	1.18×About typical	65	$54,200	17
Full-service restaurants	10	5.4	0.71×Fewer than typical	163	$22,166	—
Heavy and civil engineering construction	9	4.9	4.26×Too few to compare	257	$153,339	—
Landscaping services	9	4.9	1.39×Too few to compare	11	$91,091	45

Rank places for an industry Open Kalkaska County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 18,418 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Kalkaska, Michigan: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

744.7FY2017
260.5FY2018
-117.3FY2019
243.4FY2020
-5.4FY2021
232.1FY2023
36.8KFY2024
848.9FY2025

What was bought

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

Kalkaska, Michigan's figures are part of those of Kalkaska County, MI ($3,158 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: Kalkaska is mostly in Kalkaska County.

See federal money in Kalkaska 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.

Kalkaska, 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.

Kalkaska County36100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Traverse City, MI93

Other cities and towns in Kalkaska 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/2642260

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends