Census-designated place · Saginaw County, Michigan

Shields, Michigan

Shields is a census-designated place in Saginaw County, Michigan, part of the Saginaw, MI metro area. It has 7,402 residents. Shields, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 27 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,495 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #345 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), drought exposure (low) and mammography screening (high). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), mental health care shortage (high) and primary care shortage (high).

27Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,495 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #345 of 444 in MI
Population: 7,402 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 939.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2673560

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.

Safety16#13,091/15,637
Economy45#8,662/15,631
Housing49#7,679/14,977
Health39#9,494/15,609
Healthcare48#8,138/15,650
Environment29#10,985/15,453
Education26#11,652/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,931/15,650
Community46#8,485/15,651
Leisure & amenities32#10,684/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Home price to income ratio · low2.1×
90/100Michigan 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drought exposure · low7%
83/100Michigan 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAASaginaw County value
Mammography screening · high52.0%
81/100Michigan 49.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaginaw County value
Job growth · high1.0%
78/100Michigan 0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSaginaw County value
Dentists · high83 /100k
75/100Michigan 82 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaginaw County value
Hot days · low9 days
73/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSaginaw County value

Weaknesses

Violent crime rate · high784 /100k
2/100Michigan 416 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSaginaw County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Michigan 9.3United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSaginaw County value
Primary care shortage · high17.0
9/100Michigan 8.3United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSaginaw County value
Depression · high28.6%
10/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Food environment index · low6.7
10/100Michigan 7.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSaginaw County value
Comfortable days · low23.3%
10/100Michigan 23.1%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSaginaw County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,945 (2015-2019) → 7,402 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.9% (2015-2019) → 89.6% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
62.8% (2015-2019) → 50.3% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$61,250 (2015-2019) → $82,125 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
24.1% (2015-2019) → 30.8% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Poverty rateWorsening
6.9% (2015-2019) → 13.1% (2020-2024)
+6.2 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, Shields, Michigan improved on 3 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 7 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++6.7 points24.1% → 30.8%
Broadband+13 points76.9% → 89.6%
Household income+34%$61,250 → $82,125

Declined1

Inequality+0.0610.372 → 0.433

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Shields, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.8 min2015-2019	22.8 min2020-2024	−1.0 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.1%2015-2019	30.8%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Improved	78%
Broadband subscriptions	76.9%2015-2019	89.6%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Effective property tax rate	1.36%2015-2019	1.31%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	25%
High school diploma or higher	92.9%2015-2019	92.0%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	75%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3722015-2019	0.4332020-2024	+0.061	Declined	12%
Median household income	$61,2502015-2019	$82,1252020-2024	+34%	Improved	64%
Poverty rate	6.9%2015-2019	13.1%2020-2024	+6.2 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Rent-burdened households	62.8%2015-2019	50.3%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.0%2015-2019	4.7%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	28%

“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 Shields, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Shields, 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, Shields, Michigan itself moved +0.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

7,402 residents (±452)

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

3,173 households (±202)

Shields, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k16%†507
$25k–50k18%†563
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,173 households (±202)

Shields, Michigan
Michigan share

Own81%2,559
Rent19%†614

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

2,980 workers (±324)

Shields, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone82%2,444
Carpool3.0%†88
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 Saginaw, 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 Saginaw County, the county holding most of Shields's residents.

Saginaw County has 4,092 employer establishments, 218 for every 10,000 residents (0.88× the US rate of 248; 0.96× Michigan's), with 77,361 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,420. The Census Bureau also counts 12,027 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,092; 12,027 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 218; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 77,361
Average annual pay: $53,420; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	410	21.8	1.05×About typical	5,868	$62,732	633
Restaurants and other eating places	314	16.7	0.91×About typical	7,268	$19,368	57
Specialty trade contractors	228	12.1	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,987	$78,836	750
Limited-service restaurants	161	8.6	1.07×About typical	3,510	$16,199	25
Offices of physicians	144	7.7	1.18×About typical	1,695	$81,047	117
Religious organizations	137	7.3	1.32×More than typical	1,038	$24,472	—
Full-service restaurants	123	6.6	0.85×About typical	3,389	$22,873	20
Clothing and accessories stores	121	6.4	1.78×More than typical	1,543	$21,120	115
Automotive repair and maintenance	117	6.2	1.24×About typical	697	$40,725	125
Construction of buildings	103	5.5	0.73×Fewer than typical	750	$78,175	325
Lessors of real estate	100	5.3	0.43×Fewer than typical	362	$46,155	1,091
Building equipment contractors	99	5.3	0.88×About typical	1,062	$80,777	153

Rank places for an industry Open Saginaw County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 187,758 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 Shields, 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

18.2KFY2017
18.5KFY2018
12.1KFY2019
13.1KFY2020
20.7KFY2021
11.2KFY2022
3.8KFY2023
4.1KFY2024
7.7KFY2025

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

Shields, Michigan's figures are part of those of Saginaw County, MI ($12.5M 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: Shields is mostly in Saginaw County.

See federal money in Saginaw 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.

Shields, Michigan is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Kristen McDonald RivetD-MI-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 89%Missed 2.2%

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.

Saginaw County33100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Saginaw, MI35

Other cities and towns in Saginaw 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/2673560

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends