What it's like to live in Mount Clemens

Mount Clemens is a small city in Michigan with rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Mount Clemens deals with household incomes below the national average, college degree attainment below the national average, larger class sizes than the national average, and cold winters.

The good

  • Rent below the national average
  • Affordable home prices

The not so good

  • Below-average household incomes
  • Low college degree attainment
  • High student-teacher ratio
  • Cold winters
  • Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Mount Clemens compares

Median household income

Mount Clemens$52,310
Michigan avg$72,875
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Mount Clemens$847
Michigan avg$1,129
US$1,413

Median home value

Mount Clemens$179,400
Michigan avg$231,600
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Mount Clemens

Based on Mount Clemens's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$1,694

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $33,880 a year
  • 47% of Mount Clemens renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$35,880

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $17,940
  • Homes cost 3.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▼ 40% below US

$847/mo median rent

Rent here is genuinely low, with median rent around $847 a month. Factoring in local incomes, the value gets even better. Money stretches further here than in most of the country. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $179,400. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $179,400 · 47% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.9% county unemployment

Unemployment in Macomb County is 4.9%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Macomb County (county-wide)

Safety

130 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Mount Clemens doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Macomb County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 363/100k · Policed by Macomb County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

27 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 26.5 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 8% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
79%
Work from home
8.4%
Carpool
7.1%
Other
2.7%
Public transit
1.3%
Walk
1.3%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 80°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 20°F and snow a regular occurrence.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)
0°20°40°60°80°100°4"Jan: 2.22" precipitationFeb: 1.75" precipitationMar: 2.45" precipitationApr: 3.36" precipitationMay: 3.59" precipitationJun: 3.31" precipitationJul: 3.82" precipitationAug: 3.68" precipitationSep: 3.17" precipitationOct: 2.82" precipitationNov: 2.60" precipitationDec: 2.19" precipitation18°JJan: high 32°F, low 18°FFFeb: high 34°F, low 19°FMMar: high 44°F, low 26°FAApr: high 56°F, low 36°FMMay: high 68°F, low 47°FJJun: high 78°F, low 57°F82°JJul: high 82°F, low 62°FAAug: high 80°F, low 61°FSSep: high 73°F, low 53°FOOct: high 61°F, low 43°FNNov: high 48°F, low 32°FDDec: high 37°F, low 24°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Healthcare

1 hospital

There's one Medicare-certified hospital inside city limits, rated 1.0 out of 5 by Medicare. Hospitals in neighboring towns aren't counted here.

Medicare-certified hospitals

Education & workforce▼ 50% below US

18% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

6 public schools inside the boundary

There are 6 public schools inside the boundary and 2 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 19:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is River Raisin National Battlefield Park (54 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Mount Clemens's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and college degree attainment below the national average. A year of median rent ($847/mo) equals 19% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

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