What is the population of Monroe city?

Monroe city has 20,330 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #59 of 745 in Michigan.

What is the median household income in Monroe city?

Median household income in Monroe city is $59,532 a year, 24.2% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Monroe city?

Median gross rent is $898 a month and the median home value is $161,500, so rent absorbs about 18.1% of median household income.

Is Monroe city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 2.7× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Monroe city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Michigan · Census place 55020

Monroe, MI population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Monroe, Michigan (Monroe, MI — Census place “Monroe city”) is 20,330 residents, ranking #59 of 745 places in Michigan. Median household income is $59,532, the median home is worth $161,500 and median gross rent runs $898 a month. Looking for the Monroe Michigan ZIP code list? 2 ZIP codes serve Monroe, MI: 48161, 48162.

Population: 20,330Monroe city residents
Median household income: $59,532Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $161,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $898Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 36.9 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 67.8%Owner-occupied households

Monroe ZIP codes (Michigan)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Monroe.

The Monroe MI ZIP code list below covers 2 ZIP codes. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

What the numbers mean in Monroe city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Monroe city median would spend about 18.1% 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 2.7× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 18.3% of residents and 67.8% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Monroe city, MI in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Monroe city is a mid-size town in Michigan, with 20,330 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #59 of 745 ranked by population — larger than 92% of them. The median age here is 36.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger 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 Monroe city earn a median of $59,532 a year, 24.2% below the national figure of $78,538 and 4% below the $61,715 median for the 438 Michigan cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 18.3% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Monroe city is valued at $161,500, 46.8% below the national figure and 3% below the $166,100 peer median, while median gross rent runs $898 a month, 36.1% below the national figure, or roughly $10,776 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 18.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 67.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.

More Michigan coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Monroe city?: Monroe city has 20,330 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #59 of 745 in Michigan.
What is the median household income in Monroe city?: Median household income in Monroe city is $59,532 a year, 24.2% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Monroe city?: Median gross rent is $898 a month and the median home value is $161,500, so rent absorbs about 18.1% of median household income.
Is Monroe city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 2.7× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Monroe city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 18.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Monroe 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.