City · Newaygo County, Michigan

White Cloud, Michigan

White Cloud is a city in Newaygo County, Michigan. It has 1,280 residents. White Cloud, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 17 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,966 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #408 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on hospital quality rating (high), homicide rate (low) and natural hazard risk (low). It ranks worst on broadband subscriptions (low), grocery stores (low) and flu vaccinations (low).

17Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,966 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #408 of 444 in MI
Population: 1,280 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 662.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2686680

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.

Safety60#6,309/15,637
Economy11#13,903/15,631
Housing20#12,000/14,977
Health24#11,825/15,609
Healthcare25#11,671/15,650
Environment57#6,649/15,453
Education9#14,278/15,649
Infrastructure8#14,409/15,650
Community77#3,527/15,651
Leisure & amenities6#14,780/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Michigan 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesNewaygo County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Michigan 4.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataNewaygo County value
Natural hazard risk · low7.4
88/100Michigan 10.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyNewaygo County value
Voter turnout · high74.9%
85/100Michigan 74.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionNewaygo County value
Hot days · low6 days
82/100Michigan 5 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationNewaygo County value
Public transit commuters · high1.7%
82/100Michigan 0.9%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty

Weaknesses

Broadband subscriptions · low71.2%
1/100Michigan 90.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Grocery stores · low0.6 /10k
2/100Michigan 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNewaygo County value
Flu vaccinations · low27.0%
4/100Michigan 43.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNewaygo County value
Adult smoking · high22.9%
4/100Michigan 17.1%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Pharmacies · low0.8 /10k
7/100Michigan 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNewaygo County value
Math scores · low2.58
8/100Michigan 2.85United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNewaygo County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,205 (2015-2019) → 1,280 (2020-2024)
+6.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
46.9% (2015-2019) → 75.7% (2020-2024)
+29 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
46.0% (2015-2019) → 23.6% (2020-2024)
−22 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
28.7% (2015-2019) → 45.5% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Poverty rateImproving
30.8% (2015-2019) → 15.1% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 3.7× (2020-2024)
+72%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, White Cloud, Michigan improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Rent burden+29 points46.9% → 75.7%
Price / income+1.5×2.1× → 3.7×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of White Cloud, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.6 min2015-2019	32.6 min2020-2024	+7.0 min	Within the margin of error	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.1%2015-2019	14.4%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Broadband subscriptions	66.0%2015-2019	71.2%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Effective property tax rate	1.73%2015-2019	1.39%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	79%
High school diploma or higher	77.8%2015-2019	85.8%2020-2024	+8.1 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	3.7×2020-2024	+1.5×	Declined	9%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4552015-2019	0.4582020-2024	+0.004	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$37,7682015-2019	$45,1922020-2024	+20%	Within the margin of error	32%
Poverty rate	30.8%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Rent as share of income	28.7%2015-2019	45.5%2020-2024	+17 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Rent-burdened households	46.9%2015-2019	75.7%2020-2024	+29 points	Declined	3%

“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 White Cloud, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of White Cloud, 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, White Cloud, Michigan itself moved −15.1 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

1,280 residents (±214)

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

430 households (±70)

White Cloud, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k30%†131
$25k–50k23%†100
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

430 households (±70)

White Cloud, Michigan
Michigan share

Own66%282
Rent34%†148

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

462 workers (±105)

White Cloud, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone68%315
Carpool13%†62
Public transit1.7%†8

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 Newaygo County, the county holding most of White Cloud's residents.

Newaygo County has 829 employer establishments, 162 for every 10,000 residents (0.65× the US rate of 248; 0.71× Michigan's), with 11,124 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,757. The Census Bureau also counts 3,227 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 829; 3,227 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 162; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 11,124
Average annual pay: $50,757; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	69	13.5	0.87×About typical	324	$63,105	415
Ambulatory health care services	56	11	0.53×Fewer than typical	730	$51,086	77
Restaurants and other eating places	54	10.6	0.58×Fewer than typical	723	$21,084	8
Religious organizations	53	10.4	1.87×More than typical	199	$20,513	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	27	5.3	0.78×Fewer than typical	308	$39,133	247
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	4.9	0.97×About typical	89	$53,472	43
Construction of buildings	25	4.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	64	$53,656	237
Gasoline stations	25	4.9	1.51×More than typical	239	$30,243	—
Full-service restaurants	23	4.5	0.59×Fewer than typical	312	$22,115	4
Limited-service restaurants	23	4.5	0.56×Fewer than typical	381	$20,391	—
Offices of other health practitioners	23	4.5	0.74×Fewer than typical	138	$44,094	30
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	22	4.3	1.37×More than typical	95	$76,042	84

Rank places for an industry Open Newaygo County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 51,124 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: White Cloud is mostly in Newaygo County.

See federal money in Newaygo 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.

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

House

John R. MoolenaarR-MI-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 0.3%

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.

Newaygo County41100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Newaygo 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/2686680

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends