A cheap house and an affordable house are not the same thing. Expanding Michigan Progress to 276 cities makes that distinction easier to see because the dataset now reaches communities with radically different combinations of household income and housing value.
For each city, Michigan Progress displays the 2020–2024 ACS median household income and median value of owner-occupied housing. It also calculates a simple home-value-to-income ratio. The ratio is intentionally basic, but it is more informative than ranking cities by price alone.
High price can coexist with high earning power
In Orchard Lake Village, the dataset shows median household income of about $206,667 and median owner-occupied value of roughly $737,000. Village of Grosse Pointe Shores shows about $189,583 in household income and $733,500 in owner-occupied value.
Those are expensive housing markets, but resident income is also unusually high. That does not make every home accessible to every buyer; it simply shows why price has to be compared with household resources.
Low prices do not eliminate affordability pressure
Grayling presents the opposite kind of example. Its median owner-occupied value is about $160,800, but median household income is roughly $32,545. Bangor’s values are lower still at about $111,200, paired with household income of approximately $49,764.
Munising combines a median owner-occupied value of roughly $117,300 with household income of about $59,808. These comparisons illustrate how communities with similar-looking home prices can have very different income foundations.
Affordability is broader than the ratio
The value-to-income ratio does not include mortgage rates, down payments, insurance, utilities, maintenance or household debt. It also does not capture the condition of the housing stock or whether suitable homes are actually available for sale.
Michigan property taxes add another layer. Taxable value, millage rates, exemptions and assessment history can make ownership costs differ substantially even between similarly priced properties. Every city dashboard therefore includes a property-tax explainer and a link to LowerPropertyTax.com for owners who want to understand Michigan assessment and appeal options.
The strongest housing markets need both supply and access
A healthy city housing market should make room for current residents, new households, renters, first-time buyers and older residents whose needs change. That requires more than rising values. It requires enough housing, a functioning local economy and costs that are not moving permanently out of reach of household income.
The Michigan 276 rankings allow readers to compare household income, home value, poverty, homeownership and housing production independently. That is intentional. No single affordability score can explain all of the tradeoffs.