Census-designated place · Roscommon County, Michigan
St. Helen, Michigan
St. Helen is a census-designated place in Roscommon County, Michigan. It has 2,929 residents. St. Helen, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 26 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,559 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #347 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), voter turnout (high) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on job growth (low), average weekly wage (low) and depression (high).
26Low
Quality-of-life score
#11,559 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan
#347 of 444 in MI
Population
2,929 (2020-2024)
Land area
6 mi²
Density
511.3 /mi²
FIPS code
2670800
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
Safety66#5,363/15,637
Economy1#15,459/15,631
Housing87#1,885/14,977
Health5#14,755/15,609
Healthcare14#13,537/15,650
Environment50#7,704/15,453
Education12#13,711/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,321/15,650
Community66#5,358/15,651
Leisure & amenities68#4,969/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where St. Helen, Michigan ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Roscommon 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.
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.
Cities and towns like St. Helen, Michigan five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of St. Helen, 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.
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).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
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.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: St. Helen is mostly in Roscommon County.
Over about five years, St. Helen, Michigan improved on 5 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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.
Improved5
Rent burden−29 points62.9% → 34.2%
Rent-burdened households
62.9% → 34.2%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
−29 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±23.3 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 11 → 86 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 97% of cities and towns
Rent / income−8.9 points32.8% → 23.9%
Rent as share of income
32.8% → 23.9%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
−8.9 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±4.8 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 24 → 82 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 92% of cities and towns
Broadband+12 points73.0% → 85.4%
Broadband subscriptions
73.0% → 85.4%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
+12 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±7 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 22 → 22 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 70% of cities and towns
Bachelor's++5.4 points5.3% → 10.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
5.3% → 10.8%2015-2019 → 2020-2024
+5.4 pointsBeyond the margin of error (±4 points)
Standing among cities and towns: 1 → 6 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 71% of cities and towns
Household income+33%$33,629 → $44,871
Median household income
$33,629 → $44,8712015-2019 → 2020-2024
+33%Beyond the margin of error (±$5,417)
Standing among cities and towns: 9 → 9 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 62% of cities and towns
Declined1
Price / income+0.4×1.7× → 2.1×
Home price to income ratio
1.7× → 2.1×2015-2019 → 2020-2024
+0.4×Beyond the margin of error (±0.4×)
Standing among cities and towns: 94 → 88 (0 lowest, 100 highest)
More favourable than 53% of cities and towns
All 15 measures
Change of every measure of St. Helen, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure
Before
After
Change
Reading
Favourable vs peers
Average commute time
24.7 min2015-2019
29.6 min2020-2024
+4.9 min
Within the margin of error
10%
Bachelor's degree or higher
5.3%2015-2019
10.8%2020-2024
+5.4 points
Improved
71%
Broadband subscriptions
73.0%2015-2019
85.4%2020-2024
+12 points
Improved
70%
Child poverty rate
54.5%2015-2019
70.9%2020-2024
+16 points
Within the margin of error
6%
Effective property tax rate
1.45%2015-2019
0.99%2020-2024
−0.5 points
Within the margin of error
88%
High school diploma or higher
82.0%2015-2019
85.0%2020-2024
+3 points
Within the margin of error
68%
Home price to income ratio
1.7×2015-2019
2.1×2020-2024
+0.4×
Declined
53%
Income inequality (Gini index)
0.3882015-2019
0.4722020-2024
+0.084
Within the margin of error
7%
Median household income
$33,6292015-2019
$44,8712020-2024
+33%
Improved
62%
Poverty rate
28.6%2015-2019
32.8%2020-2024
+4.1 points
Within the margin of error
15%
Public transit commuters
0.0%2015-2019
0.0%2020-2024
0 points
Within the margin of error
60%
Rent as share of income
32.8%2015-2019
23.9%2020-2024
−8.9 points
Improved
92%
Rent-burdened households
62.9%2015-2019
34.2%2020-2024
−29 points
Improved
97%
Unemployment rate
11.7%2015-2019
10.5%2020-2024
−1.2 points
Within the margin of error
72%
Uninsured residents (under 65)
11.0%2015-2019
9.0%2020-2024
−2 points
Within the margin of error
69%
“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.
For comparison, St. Helen, Michigan itself moved +6.9 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.
Household income
1,345 households (±183)
St. Helen, Michigan
Michigan share
Under $25k18%†247
Under $25k
18%±5.5 points
247 households±82 (90% margin of error)
16%in Michigan
15%in United States
−18.0 pointssince 2015–2019
Wide margin of error: read with care
$25k–50k41%555
$25k–50k
41%±7.8 points
555 households±130 (90% margin of error)
19%in Michigan
17%in United States
+1.6 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
$50k–75k21%†277
$50k–75k
21%±6.4 points
277 households±94 (90% margin of error)
17%in Michigan
16%in United States
+5.6 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$75k–100k9.1%†123
$75k–100k
9.1%±4.5 points
123 households±63 (90% margin of error)
13%in Michigan
13%in United States
+4.7 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$100k–150k7.7%†104
$100k–150k
7.7%±4.0 points
104 households±55 (90% margin of error)
17%in Michigan
18%in United States
+3.9 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
Wide margin of error: read with care
$150k–200k0.0%0
$150k–200k
0.0%±0.8 points
0 households±11 (90% margin of error)
8.6%in Michigan
9.6%in United States
−0.6 pointssince 2015–2019, within the margin of error
$200k or more2.9%†39
$200k or more
2.9%±2.1 points
39 households±29 (90% margin of error)
9.5%in Michigan
13%in United States
+2.9 pointssince 2015–2019
Wide margin of error: read with care
Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−18.0 points).
† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.
The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Roscommon County, the county holding most of St. Helen's residents.
Roscommon County has 551 employer establishments, 230 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 1.01× Michigan's), with 4,204 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,830. The Census Bureau also counts 1,565 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.
Establishments
551
1,565 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
230
US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees
4,204
Average annual pay
$40,830
US $68,342
Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Roscommon County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation
County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)
Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,940 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.
No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.
