Ottawa County, Michigan

• White (non-Hispanic) 246,196 81.7%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 30,924 10.3%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 4,580 1.5%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 8,124 2.7%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 9,766 3.2%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 305 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 45 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,263 0.4%

• Under 18 69,275 23.0%
• 18–24 38,953 12.9%
• 25–44 74,091 24.6%
• 45–64 68,564 22.8%
• 65 and over 50,320 16.7%

Median household income

$89,708

90% interval $86,742–$92,674

+$17,372 vs MI · 6th of 83

Below poverty line

8.8%

90% interval 7.8%–9.8%

−4.6 pp vs MI · 74th of 83

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.9%

−1.05 pp vs. state

County GDP

$21.0B

3% of state

Avg. annual pay

$61,590

Establishments

7,155

• Manufacturing 37,739 29.2%
• Education & health services 21,558 16.7%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 19,847 15.3%
• Leisure & hospitality 12,558 9.7%
• Professional & business services 11,425 8.8%
• Construction 7,064 5.5%
• Other services 4,582 3.5%
• Natural resources & mining 3,624 2.8%
• Financial activities 3,508 2.7%
• Public administration 2,749 2.1%
• Information 740 0.6%
• Unclassified 296 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 97.1% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

79.3%

+6.1 pp vs MI · 52nd of 83

Median gross rent

$1,211

+$82 vs MI · 8th of 83

Owner-occupied

88,248

Renter-occupied

23,074

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 61% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $80,573/yr) pays 3.1× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $26,107/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 18 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Republican 106,133 59.5%
• Democratic 69,653 39.0%
• Other / third-party 2,616 1.5%

• Spanish 14,557 5.1%
• German or other West Germanic 867 0.3%
• Chinese 632 0.2%
• Vietnamese 524 0.2%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 442 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 427 0.2%
• Arabic 354 0.1%
• Korean 323 0.1%
• Tagalog 154 0.1%

Households

111,322

Family households

78,622

70.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

26,331

33.5% of families

Single-mother families

4,148

5.3% of families

Veterans

11,005

4.7% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 64,786 21.9%
• Mainline Protestant 34,801 11.7%
• Catholic 28,663 9.7%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 2,702 0.9%
• Orthodox 25 0.0%

Health insured

96.7%

±0.4 pp

Uninsured

3.3%

±0.4 pp

79th of 83

With a disability

10.1%

±0.5 pp

83rd of 83

Bachelor's or higher

38.9%

±1.1 pp

+6.5 pp vs MI · 11th of 83

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

5.2%

90% interval 4.7%–5.7% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

20th Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

4 (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

Grand Haven

Traffic fatalities

17

7.33 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

16