Michigan rental market data

Apartment List's July 2026 recent-lease rent rose 2.0% year over year to $1,209. Its separate Vacancy Index fell by 0.2 percentage point to 4.5%, indicating less measured vacancy even as the separate time-on-market series increased from 19.0 to 22.7 days.

The state rent-growth rate was 3.1 percentage points above the national rate, current vacancy was 2.6 percentage points lower, and time on market was 7.3 days shorter. Even so, the 3.7-day year-over-year increase in Michigan marketing time is a genuine counter-signal. The three Apartment List measures have different coverage and should be screened separately rather than combined into one liquidity score.

Across 26 measured metros, the median year-over-year job change was negative 0.6%, with the distribution running from negative 3.3% at the 10th percentile to positive 0.9% at the 90th. The county migration series recorded 230,666 people moving in and 239,241 moving out, a net loss of 8,575, or 0.85 person per 1,000 residents.

The counterweight is a positive aggregate mover-income balance: measured inbound adjusted gross income was $5.1 million versus $4.6 million outbound, a $487,946 gap. Local job results also differed from the median: Traverse City grew 2.5%, Saginaw 1.6% and Muskegon 1.0%. The combination supports deeper screening of those local labor markets, but the older migration period and aggregate income totals do not establish current renter demand or its neighborhood distribution.

The median Zillow rent-growth rate across 19 measured metros was 5.4%, while the median price-growth rate across 26 metros was 5.9%. Rent growth therefore trailed price growth by 0.6 percentage point at the distribution median. The coverage is not identical: seven price-measured metros lack rent-growth data, calculated as 26 minus 19, and missing observations are not evidence of zero growth.

Mount Pleasant moved in the opposite direction, with rent up 11.6% and price up 6.9%, a calculated 4.7-percentage-point rent lead. Holland's rent rose 8.6% against 5.9% price growth, while Muskegon's rent rose 8.2% against 4.8%. Their simple gross yields were 5.2%, 6.0% and 5.6%, respectively. These named markets warrant separate price and rent assumptions; Zillow market rents should not be blended with Apartment List's recent-lease series.

Across 25 measured metros, the median resale market had 2.9 months of supply, 35 days on market and price drops on 25.3% of listings. Sault Ste. Marie was much slower at 87 days and 5.6 months of supply, yet its price-drop share was only 16.4%. Houghton posted 86 days, 5.2 months and a 17.1% price-drop share. Hillsdale recorded 63 days, 3.8 months and a 23.5% price-drop share. Their sale-to-list ratios ranged from 97.1% to 98.5%, showing that long marketing periods did not correspond to uniformly high price-cut shares.

Permit intensity also varied. Traverse City had 1,018 permitted units, or 6.6 per 1,000 residents, alongside 4.7 months of resale supply. Ann Arbor had 1,456 permits, or 3.9 per 1,000, with 2.4 months of supply; Cadillac had 180 permits, or 3.7 per 1,000, with 3.5 months. Permits are authorized units rather than completed rentals, and Redfin resale time is not Apartment List rental marketing time. Both should be tested independently when screening future competition and exit liquidity.

Across all 83 counties, the median ACS all-housing vacancy rate was 19.5%, rising to 42.8% at the 90th percentile. Lake County measured 61.4%, while Mackinac County and Oscoda County were both about 50.9%. The county distribution was predominantly single-family: the median single-family share was 81.4%, compared with an 18.4% renter share and a 2.2% large-multifamily share.

High all-home vacancy coexists with renter strain. The median county share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent was 48.3%, and the 90th percentile was 53.6%. Lake County measured 59.1%, Luce County 57.3% and Houghton County 56.6%; Houghton County's median structure year was 1960. ACS vacancy covers all housing and does not identify available rental units, vacancy reasons or property condition, so these figures require local checks rather than an assumption of abundant rentable stock.

FEMA assigns inland flood as the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for 82 counties and strong wind for one. These counts do not overlap, but a county's leading label does not establish parcel exposure or rule out secondary hazards. The highest named county loss ratios were 0.20% in Mecosta County, 0.17% in Tuscola County and 0.14% in Gratiot County.

Effective property-tax rates had a county median of 1.09%, with a 10th-to-90th-percentile range of 0.89% to 1.43%. Ingham County measured 1.83% and a $3,640 median tax, Wayne County 1.63% and $2,904, and Washtenaw County 1.52% and $5,678. County measures can identify where tax and hazard review matters most, but they cannot replace a subject property's assessment, tax history, flood determination or insurance quote.