Skip to main content

Jury Pool Profile

Hillsdale County, Michigan

Republican +51.4 (2024)
County seat
Hillsdale
Judicial district
1st Judicial Circuit Court
Population (July 2025 estimate)
45,738
Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 45,654.

At a glance

Hillsdale County is a 45,738-person venue. The county population is 93% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $66,118, $6,218 below the MI state median of $72,336; 21.2% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 3.4% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly German or other West Germanic and Spanish. The largest published sector is Manufacturing, at 28.2% of covered employment, average pay $69,708/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.86%, below the 4.98% state average. The county carried the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 71% to 75% of the vote across the three.

Population
45,654
Median household income
$64,242
Unemployment
4.9%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 93% / 1%.

Hillsdale County has a population of 45,654, with a median age of 43.1. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 93.4%; Black residents 0.7%. Independently, 2.8% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median household earns $66,118; 21.2% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 12.8% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity
  • White (non-Hispanic) 42,051 92.1%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,283 2.8%
  • Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 313 0.7%
  • Asian (non-Hispanic) 117 0.3%
  • Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 1,661 3.6%
  • American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 20 0.0%
  • Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
  • Some other race (non-Hispanic) 209 0.5%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 43.1

  • Under 18 9,826 21.5%
  • 18–24 4,201 9.2%
  • 25–44 9,817 21.5%
  • 45–64 12,047 26.4%
  • 65 and over 9,763 21.4%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty
Median household income
$66,118
90% interval $63,424–$68,812
−$6,218 vs MI · 36th of 83
Below poverty line
12.8%
90% interval 10.3%–15.3%
−0.6 pp vs MI · 43rd of 83

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Led by manufacturing and healthcare & education

Counting the cells BLS withholds (private jobs estimated from Census County Business Patterns, government jobs from the statewide mix), the two largest sectors are within 20% of each other: Manufacturing about 3,510, Education & health services about 3,460.

Manufacturing is the largest published sector at 28.2% of covered employment, followed by Education & health services at 27.5%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 4.86%, below the Michigan state average.

Local economy
Unemployment (12-mo)
4.9%
−0.12 pp vs. state
County GDP
$2.2B
0.31% of state
Avg. annual pay
$53,834
Establishments
910

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

  • Manufacturing 3,510 28.2%
  • Education & health services 3,428 27.5%
  • Trade, transportation & utilities 1,959 15.7%
  • Leisure & hospitality 890 7.1%
  • Professional & business services 623 5.0%
  • Public administration 439 3.5%
  • Construction 418 3.4%
  • Other services 322 2.6%
  • Financial activities 314 2.5%
  • Natural resources & mining 289 2.3%
  • Information 87 0.7%
  • Unclassified 58 0.5%

The sectors listed cover 99.0% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing
Home ownership
82.0%
+8.8 pp vs MI · 38th of 83
Median gross rent
$832
−$297 vs MI · 54th of 83
Owner-occupied
14,647
Renter-occupied
3,213

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads
  • Concentrated

    Top three sectors employ 71% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.

  • Moderate wage spread

    Highest-paid sector (Manufacturing, $69,708/yr) pays 3.7× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $18,755/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

  • Mixed business scale

    Average establishment employs 14 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

BLS QCEW 2025

Political composition

Consistently strongly Republican

Republican candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 73%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Hillsdale County was carried by the Republican candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 75.1% in 2024, 73.1% in 2020, 70.9% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 24,813 votes cast

  • Republican
  • Democratic
Presidential vote share by year
YearRepublicanDemocratic
201670.9%24.1%
202073.1%25.2%
202475.1%23.7%
  • Republican 18,631 75.1%
  • Democratic 5,875 23.7%
  • Other / third-party 307 1.2%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-majority, English-speaking

Family households are 67% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 3.4% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

3.4% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are German or other West Germanic, Spanish, French, Haitian, or Cajun. Veterans account for 7.2% of the adult civilian population (2,594 individuals).

Languages spoken at home

96.6% speak only English at home

  • German or other West Germanic 725 1.7%
  • Spanish 388 0.9%
  • French, Haitian, or Cajun 55 0.1%
  • Arabic 31 0.1%
  • Chinese 24 0.1%
  • Tagalog 16 0.0%
  • Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 11 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Household composition
Households
17,860
Family households
11,906
66.7% of households
Married couples w/ children
3,042
25.6% of families
Single-mother families
980
8.2% of families
Veterans
2,594
7.2% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

24.3% overall adherence rate

  • Evangelical Protestant 6,781 14.8%
  • Catholic 2,114 4.6%
  • Mainline Protestant 1,340 2.9%
  • Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 593 1.3%
  • Black Protestant 300 0.7%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education
Health insured
93.6%
±0.9 pp
Uninsured
6.4%
±0.9 pp
21st of 83
With a disability
16.3%
±1 pp
44th of 83
Bachelor's or higher
21.2%
±1.4 pp
−11.2 pp vs MI · 50th of 83
Uninsured, under 65 (2024)
7.3%
90% interval 6.5%–8.1% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

Court infrastructure
Trial court
1st Judicial Circuit Court
Judges
1 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) and Probate Court judges separate. Vintage 2026 courts.michigan.gov / Wikipedia 'Michigan Circuit Courts' table; cross-checked against MCL § 600.508.)
Court seats
Hillsdale
Court reference
Traffic safety context

Hillsdale totals, 2024 — the per-100k rate is based on 5 recorded deaths, too few to be statistically reliable

Traffic fatalities
5
13.96 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes
5

NHTSA FARS 2024

About this profile

This profile aggregates publicly available U.S. government statistics for Hillsdale County, Michigan to give trial attorneys venue context for jury selection. It describes the general population of the county, not the qualified jury wheel, and is not legal advice or a substitute for the court's juror records.

Sources as of: U.S. Census ACS 2024 · U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025 · Election results 2024 · NHTSA FARS 2024 · US Religion Census 2020.

Data sources