Village · Houghton County, Michigan

Laurium, Michigan

Laurium is a village in Houghton County, Michigan, part of the Houghton, MI metro area. It has 1,509 residents. Laurium, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,613 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #105 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low), hospital quality rating (high) and hot days (low). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), comfortable days (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,613 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #105 of 444 in MI
Population: 1,509 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,324.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 2646360

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.

Safety93#1,076/15,637
Economy30#10,943/15,631
Housing51#7,386/14,977
Health42#8,997/15,609
Healthcare48#8,131/15,650
Environment99#203/15,453
Education78#3,388/15,649
Infrastructure22#12,138/15,650
Community66#5,367/15,651
Leisure & amenities51#7,731/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.0 µg/m³
99/100Michigan 8.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHoughton County value
Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Michigan 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHoughton County value
Hot days · low1 days
97/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHoughton County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,507 /100k
96/100Michigan 3,367 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHoughton County value
Restaurants and bars · high15.1 /10k
95/100Michigan 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHoughton County value
Drought exposure · low0%
95/100Michigan 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAHoughton County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high198 mi
1/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHoughton County value
Comfortable days · low21.6%
2/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHoughton County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high237 mi
2/100Michigan 25 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHoughton County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Michigan 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHoughton County value
New business applications · low7.5 /1k
4/100Michigan 15.0 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHoughton County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Michigan 6.3United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHoughton County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,073 (2015-2019) → 1,509 (2020-2024)
−27%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
41.8% (2015-2019) → 50.6% (2020-2024)
+8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
9.6% (2015-2019) → 17.4% (2020-2024)
+7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$40,125 (2015-2019) → $54,167 (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.6% (2015-2019) → 86.2% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
25.8% (2015-2019) → 31.1% (2020-2024)
+5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Laurium, Michigan improved on 1 of 13 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.

Improved1

Property tax−0.7 points1.66% → 1.00%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Laurium, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.9 min2015-2019	13.7 min2020-2024	−4.2 min	Within the margin of error	86%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.8%2015-2019	31.1%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Broadband subscriptions	79.6%2015-2019	86.2%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Effective property tax rate	1.66%2015-2019	1.00%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Improved	96%
High school diploma or higher	92.6%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	−4.2 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	52%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4112015-2019	0.4122020-2024	+0.001	Within the margin of error	50%
Median household income	$40,1252015-2019	$54,1672020-2024	+35%	Within the margin of error	65%
Poverty rate	12.0%2015-2019	16.0%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.0%2015-2019	31.0%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Rent-burdened households	41.8%2015-2019	50.6%2020-2024	+8.8 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.8%2015-2019	8.1%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	23%

“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 Laurium, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Laurium, 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, Laurium, Michigan itself moved −5 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

1,509 residents (±230)

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

756 households (±112)

Laurium, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k23%†173
$25k–50k26%†196
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

756 households (±112)

Laurium, Michigan
Michigan share

Own76%573
Rent24%†183

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

804 workers (±178)

Laurium, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone63%506
Carpool20%†164
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 Houghton, 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 Houghton County, the county holding most of Laurium's residents.

Houghton County has 891 employer establishments, 237 for every 10,000 residents (0.95× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Michigan's), with 9,246 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,810. The Census Bureau also counts 2,276 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 891; 2,276 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 237; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 9,246
Average annual pay: $42,810; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	70	18.6	1.01×About typical	1,165	$16,734	5
Construction of buildings	62	16.5	2.18×More than typical	342	$60,556	77
Ambulatory health care services	59	15.7	0.75×Fewer than typical	580	$73,688	97
Specialty trade contractors	49	13	0.84×About typical	282	$74,145	147
Full-service restaurants	40	10.6	1.38×More than typical	709	$16,176	—
Religious organizations	31	8.2	1.48×More than typical	110	$17,600	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	6.6	1.32×More than typical	104	$45,337	23
Offices of other health practitioners	24	6.4	1.05×About typical	90	$39,667	54
Limited-service restaurants	23	6.1	0.76×Fewer than typical	402	$17,898	—
Lessors of real estate	21	5.6	0.45×Fewer than typical	77	$34,195	197
Traveler accommodation	19	5	2.79×More than typical	253	$21,221	28
Banks and credit unions	18	4.8	1.48×More than typical	198	$54,146	—

Rank places for an industry Open Houghton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 37,671 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: Laurium is mostly in Houghton County.

See federal money in Houghton 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.

Laurium, 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.

Houghton County79100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Houghton, MI80

Other cities and towns in Houghton 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/2646360

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends