2025 Compare Cities Economy:
West Branch, MI vs Bay City, MI

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Highlights
- Household income in Bay City, is 30% more than it is in West Branch and is 64% below the National Average.
- West Branch unemployment rate is 8.5%.
- Bay City unemployment rate is 8.2%.
 West Branch, MIBay City, MIUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock8.2%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock0.3%1.6%
 Future Job Growth16.3%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes6.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock4.3%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$21,404  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$41,959$69,021
 Family Median Income$45,938  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 West Branch, MIBay City, MIUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock18.2%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K11.9%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock12.6%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K16.7%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock11.1%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K12.0%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock10.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K5.9%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock8.1%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K1.4%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock1.6%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 West Branch, MIBay City, MIUnited States
 Management, business, finance6.0%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock3.3%6.5%
 Community, social services3.1%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.5%1.2%
 Education, library9.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock1.1%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology7.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock8.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement2.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock8.3%5.4%
 Building maintenance3.1%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.3%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support23.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.5%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair8.2%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock17.2%13.1%
Reviews for West Branch    1 Reviews

Over 16 years ago

pros: affordable cost of living, close to Michigan's lakes and forests cons: no jobs, small town atmosphere, sequestered location, bad winters, I lived in West  More

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Reviews for Bay City    7 Reviews

Bay City offers low prices for homes due to lower population (Current lower demand). Years ago, the population was more than 3x as big due to big lumber industry, etc.  More

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But everything else is going to  More

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There are many pros to Bay City, it is incredibly cheap to live in and most everything is very affordable. The problem is that the economy is terrible and there aren't  More

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