
Michigan · Census place 17020
Coldwater, MI population, income and ZIP codes
Quick answer
The population of the city of Coldwater, Michigan (Coldwater, MI — Census place “Coldwater city”) is 13,847 residents, ranking #78 of 745 places in Michigan. Median household income is $50,084, the median home is worth $120,900 and median gross rent runs $912 a month. Looking for the Coldwater Michigan ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Coldwater, MI: 49036.
- Population
- 13,847Coldwater city residents
- Median household income
- $50,084Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $120,900Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $912Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 40.2 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 61.3%Owner-occupied households
Coldwater ZIP codes (Michigan)
Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Coldwater.
The Coldwater MI ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.
What the numbers mean in Coldwater city
Housing cost measured against local earnings.
A household earning the Coldwater city median would spend about 21.9% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 2.4× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 19.9% of residents and 61.3% of households own their home.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Coldwater city, MI in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Coldwater city is a mid-size town in Michigan, with 13,847 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #78 of 745 ranked by population — larger than 89% of them. The median age here is 40.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.
Households in Coldwater city earn a median of $50,084 a year, 36.2% below the national figure of $78,538 and 19% below the $61,715 median for the 438 Michigan cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 19.9% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.
The typical owner-occupied home in Coldwater city is valued at $120,900, 60.2% below the national figure and 27% below the $166,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $912 a month, 35.1% below the national figure, or roughly $10,944 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 61.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.
Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Compare with nearby places
Places of similar size in Michigan.
- Sault Ste. Marie city 13,373
- Fraser city 14,604
- Ionia city 12,950
- Owosso city 14,658
- Rochester city 12,939
- Hazel Park city 14,945
- Woodhaven city 12,761
- Berkley city 15,084
Keep going
More Michigan coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Coldwater city?
- Coldwater city has 13,847 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #78 of 745 in Michigan.
- What is the median household income in Coldwater city?
- Median household income in Coldwater city is $50,084 a year, 36.2% below the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Coldwater city?
- Median gross rent is $912 a month and the median home value is $120,900, so rent absorbs about 21.9% of median household income.
- Is Coldwater city affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 2.4× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Coldwater city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.9% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Coldwater city data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.