City · Ingham County, Michigan

Williamston, Michigan

Williamston is a city in Ingham County, Michigan, part of the Lansing-East Lansing, MI metro area. It has 3,807 residents. Williamston, Michigan has a quality-of-life score of 60 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,310 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Michigan it ranks #125 of 444 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), primary care physicians (high) and new business applications (high). It ranks worst on time spent in the emergency room (high), violent crime rate (high) and food environment index (low).

60Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,310 of 15,651 cities and towns
Michigan: #125 of 444 in MI
Population: 3,807 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,551.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 2687420

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety36#10,034/15,637
Economy60#6,310/15,631
Housing40#8,993/14,977
Health52#7,563/15,609
Healthcare81#2,961/15,650
Environment30#10,848/15,453
Education62#5,904/15,649
Infrastructure86#2,137/15,650
Community73#4,154/15,651
Leisure & amenities31#10,717/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
95/100Michigan 25 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauIngham County value
Primary care physicians · high126 /100k
95/100Michigan 81 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIngham County value
New business applications · high23.3 /1k
95/100Michigan 15.0 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauIngham County value
New homes permitted · high15.2 /1k
93/100Michigan 2.2 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Mental health providers · high545 /100k
91/100Michigan 371 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIngham County value
Drought exposure · low4%
88/100Michigan 13%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAIngham County value

Weaknesses

Time spent in the emergency room · high284 min
0/100Michigan 163 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesIngham County value
Violent crime rate · high531 /100k
9/100Michigan 416 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationIngham County value
Food environment index · low6.7
10/100Michigan 7.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIngham County value
Depression · high28.2%
12/100Michigan 26.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Job growth · low-2.0%
13/100Michigan 0.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataIngham County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.486
13/100Michigan 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.8 /1k (2021) → 15.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+737%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
24.2% (2015-2019) → 64.1% (2020-2024)
+40 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.5% (2015-2019) → 95.5% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
22.5% (2015-2019) → 34.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
51.6% (2015-2019) → 40.9% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.3× (2015-2019) → 3.2× (2020-2024)
+35%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, Williamston, Michigan improved on 1 of 10 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.

Improved1

Broadband+13 points82.5% → 95.5%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Williamston, Michigan between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	31.2 min2015-2019	26.0 min2020-2024	−5.3 min	Within the margin of error	91%
Bachelor's degree or higher	51.6%2015-2019	40.9%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Broadband subscriptions	82.5%2015-2019	95.5%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	73%
Effective property tax rate	2.26%2015-2019	1.74%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	92%
High school diploma or higher	97.7%2015-2019	98.9%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	29%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4652015-2019	0.4862020-2024	+0.021	Within the margin of error	33%
Median household income	$68,9502015-2019	$71,3792020-2024	+3.5%	Within the margin of error	10%
Poverty rate	6.1%2015-2019	9.2%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Rent as share of income	22.5%2015-2019	34.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	7%

“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 Williamston, Michigan five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Williamston, 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, Williamston, Michigan itself moved −7.4 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

3,807 residents (±21)

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

1,794 households (±182)

Williamston, Michigan
Michigan share

Under $25k18%†324
$25k–50k19%†336
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,794 households (±182)

Williamston, Michigan
Michigan share

Own66%1,192
Rent34%†602

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

1,864 workers (±380)

Williamston, Michigan
Michigan share

Drive alone77%†1,441
Carpool2.4%†45
Public transit

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 Lansing-East Lansing, 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 Ingham County, the county holding most of Williamston's residents.

Ingham County has 6,160 employer establishments, 215 for every 10,000 residents (0.87× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Michigan's), with 111,995 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,373. The Census Bureau also counts 21,566 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,160; 21,566 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 215; US 248 · Michigan 228
Paid employees: 111,995
Average annual pay: $59,373; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	586	20.5	0.98×About typical	8,495	$58,464	1,129
Restaurants and other eating places	511	17.8	0.97×About typical	10,799	$19,973	97
Limited-service restaurants	260	9.1	1.13×About typical	5,192	$17,721	55
Lessors of real estate	240	8.4	0.68×Fewer than typical	2,142	$55,071	2,323
Specialty trade contractors	224	7.8	0.51×Fewer than typical	2,816	$72,297	993
Full-service restaurants	188	6.6	0.85×About typical	4,730	$22,370	33
Religious organizations	181	6.3	1.14×About typical	1,499	$27,100	—
Offices of other health practitioners	178	6.2	1.02×About typical	1,209	$65,045	586
Offices of physicians	163	5.7	0.88×About typical	2,295	$76,858	226
Legal services	157	5.5	1.02×About typical	983	$104,226	234
Insurance agencies and brokerages	152	5.3	1.21×About typical	1,337	$73,297	245
Services to buildings and dwellings	149	5.2	0.77×Fewer than typical	1,677	$33,568	1,217

Rank places for an industry Open Ingham County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 286,405 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 Williamston, Michigan: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
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

5.2KFY2017
4.1KFY2018
293.2FY2019
2.7KFY2021
-1.4KFY2022
6.6KFY2023
3.7KFY2024

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

Williamston, Michigan's figures are part of those of Ingham County, MI ($55.8M 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: Williamston is mostly in Ingham County.

See federal money in Ingham 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.

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

House

Tom BarrettR-MI-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.7%

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.

Ingham County58100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lansing-East Lansing, MI69

Other cities and towns in Ingham 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/2687420

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends