City · Emmet County, Michigan

Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey is a city in Emmet County, Michigan, part of the Petoskey, MI metro area. It has 5,856 residents. Petoskey, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 91 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,401 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #19 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), voter turnout (high) and dentists (high). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and income inequality (Gini index) (high).

91Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,401 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #19 of 444 in MI
Population: 5,856 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,137.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2663820

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.

Safety80#3,195/15,637
Economy71#4,470/15,631
Housing33#9,966/14,977
Health75#3,960/15,609
Healthcare88#1,939/15,650
Environment83#2,637/15,453
Education88#1,873/15,649
Infrastructure64#5,657/15,650
Community88#1,830/15,651
Leisure & amenities96#611/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Michigan 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAEmmet County value
Voter turnout · high82.9%
98/100Michigan 74.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionEmmet County value
Dentists · high126 /100k
98/100Michigan 82 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEmmet County value
Restaurants and bars · high16.9 /10k
97/100Michigan 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEmmet County value
Hot days · low1 days
97/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEmmet County value
Grocery stores · high3.5 /10k
97/100Michigan 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEmmet County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high179 mi
1/100Michigan 44 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauEmmet County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high175 mi
3/100Michigan 25 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauEmmet County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.536
7/100Michigan 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
High ozone days · high5 days
15/100Michigan 3 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEmmet County value
Comfortable days · low23.6%
16/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEmmet County value
Depression · high27.1%
18/100Michigan 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.

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
30.9% (2015-2019) → 47.5% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
39.0% (2015-2019) → 53.4% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$45,107 (2015-2019) → $74,196 (2020-2024)
+64%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.3% (2015-2019) → 91.0% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.9× (2015-2019) → 4.9× (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.0% (2015-2019) → 28.8% (2020-2024)
+4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Petoskey, Michigan improved on 3 of 12 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++14 points39.0% → 53.4%
Household income+64%$45,107 → $74,196
Broadband+6.8 points84.3% → 91.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Petoskey, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.6 min2015-2019	14.6 min2020-2024	−0.1 min	Within the margin of error	48%
Bachelor's degree or higher	39.0%2015-2019	53.4%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	97%
Broadband subscriptions	84.3%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Improved	42%
Effective property tax rate	1.34%2015-2019	1.17%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	52%
High school diploma or higher	94.8%2015-2019	96.8%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	4.9×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	23%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5042015-2019	0.5362020-2024	+0.032	Within the margin of error	26%
Median household income	$45,1072015-2019	$74,1962020-2024	+64%	Improved	93%
Poverty rate	9.3%2015-2019	9.0%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent as share of income	24.0%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent-burdened households	30.9%2015-2019	47.5%2020-2024	+17 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.0%2015-2019	7.1%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%

“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 Petoskey, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Petoskey, 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, Petoskey, Michigan itself moved −4.3 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

5,856 residents (±23)

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

2,648 households (±156)

Petoskey, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k17%†440
$25k–50k14%†379
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,648 households (±156)

Petoskey, Michigan
Michigan share

Own61%1,619
Rent39%1,029

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+9.0 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,004 workers (±260)

Petoskey, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone64%1,919
Carpool12%†351
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 Petoskey, 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 Emmet County, the county holding most of Petoskey's residents.

Emmet County has 1,577 employer establishments, 463 for every 10,000 residents (1.87× the US rate of 248; 2.03× Michigan's), with 16,212 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,626. The Census Bureau also counts 3,718 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,577; 3,718 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 463; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 16,212
Average annual pay: $51,626; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	155	45.6	2.94×More than typical	725	$65,097	329
Ambulatory health care services	154	45.3	2.17×More than typical	1,465	$70,553	185
Construction of buildings	109	32	4.24×More than typical	612	$63,193	228
Restaurants and other eating places	94	27.6	1.50×More than typical	1,427	$33,076	9
Services to buildings and dwellings	77	22.6	3.36×More than typical	343	$85,688	310
Offices of physicians	66	19.4	3.00×More than typical	874	$79,747	52
Lessors of real estate	62	18.2	1.48×More than typical	199	$63,814	547
Building equipment contractors	51	15	2.49×More than typical	360	$68,881	32
Full-service restaurants	50	14.7	1.91×More than typical	905	$37,090	7
Landscaping services	50	14.7	4.19×More than typical	225	$103,298	70
Offices of other health practitioners	43	12.6	2.08×More than typical	163	$41,969	87
Building finishing contractors	40	11.8	3.09×More than typical	141	$45,667	176

Rank places for an industry Open Emmet County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 34,028 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 $1,175 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Petoskey, Michigan: $0.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1,175; −99% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.20; 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$1,175100%

Top recipients

COUNTY WIDE POWERSPORTS, INC.$1,175100%

Spending by fiscal year

1.3KFY2017
5.1KFY2018
8.4KFY2019
37.4KFY2020
5.4KFY2021
3.7FY2023
34.7KFY2024
82.9KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Other transportation equipment manufacturing · 3369$1,175100%

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

Petoskey, Michigan's figures are part of those of Emmet County, MI ($23.9K in FY2026), never added to them: 4.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Emmet 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.

Petoskey, 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.

Emmet County96100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Petoskey, MI98

Other cities and towns in Emmet 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/2663820

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends