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Manistee, Michigan

Manistee is a small town of about 6,200 people in Manistee County, Michigan. It's the county seat. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Grand Rapids, is about 95 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
6,157
down 2.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$164,100
Manistee County prices up 31% since 2022
Household income
$60,541
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Michigan
89
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
3 miles
Manistee, MI
To Grand Rapids
95 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11% below the U.S. average in the parts of Michigan outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood24 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 13.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byMunson Healthcare Manistee Hospital in Manistee, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGrand Rapids is about 95 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Manistee meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$164,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 31%Manistee County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$768 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,541U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
73%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,082 a yearMichigan: $2,904
Homes built before 1940
38%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
12%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
89U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Michigan outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 31% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Michigan outside metro areas, not Manistee alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
6,1572020: 6,287
Median age
45 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
25%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
23%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (14%); professional and business services (12%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
15 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
13%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Munson Healthcare Manistee Hospital, Manistee, MI, about 3 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Manistee, run by Manistee Area Public Schools and Michigan Great Lakes Virtual Academy.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Michigan's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
3 a year
Nights at or below freezing
140 a year
Rain and melted snow
36.3 inches a year
Snow
93 inches a year
Elevation
645 feet

Weather stations: Manistee 3SE (3 miles away) and Wellston Tippy Dam (19 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Munson Healthcare Manistee Hospital, Green Bay, Grand Rapids.

Manistee County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

12 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including CITY OF MILWAUKEE, the Manistee Central Business District and Orchard Beach State Park. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore31 miles

Read about Manistee's history on Wikipedia.

Know Manistee?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Eastlake, MI408 people, 2 miles
  • Oak Hill, MI (unincorporated)519 people, 2 miles
  • Filer City, MI (unincorporated)178 people, 3 miles
  • Parkdale, MI (unincorporated)573 people, 3 miles
  • Stronach, MI (unincorporated)155 people, 3 miles
  • Onekama, MI392 people, 10 miles
  • Free Soil, MI148 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.