City safety & data profile

AlpenaMI

Alpena, MI is a 10K-resident city in Alpena County with a median household income of $47,545.

Alpena County, Michigan. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Alpena, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Alpena has a population larger than 1% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $118,700, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-08-21

10K
Population (place)
Bottom 2%
By size
$47,545
Median income (place)
$118,700
Median home (place)
21.2%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Alpena

Alpena posts a median household income higher than 7% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Alpena area.

Bottom 8%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Alpena

Where Alpena income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$47,545 Bottom 7% higher than 7% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Alpena $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in MI

Population among 105 MI places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Detroit is the largest MI city on this list; Beverly Hills leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in MI

Median household income among the same 105-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Beverly Hills posts the highest place-level median income in MI; Detroit is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Alpena, MI beyond the headline numbers

Alpena sits inside Alpena County, Michigan, at roughly 45.06°N, -83.43°W. Population 10,175, $47,545 median household income. Median home value $118,700, median rent $625. Poverty rate 21.2%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Alpena, 3/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

21.2% of Alpena, MI residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Alpena runs about 2.5 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.

Only 5.4% of Alpena workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

Among the CDC measures on this page, coronary heart disease departs furthest from its peer median: 9.4% in Alpena, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,757 cities reporting that measure.

2.4% of Alpena workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

At 46 years, Alpena's median age is in the oldest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Alpena from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
10,175
Alpena · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$47,545
-47% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$118,700
-71% vs avg
Median Age (place)
46
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Alpena County): Alpena's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
29K-2%
Median Income
$53,950+42%
Median Home Value
$153,900+60%
Poverty Rate
18%+4%
Unemployment
6.2%-44%

Economics

Economics indicators for Alpena, MI
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$625/mo
Poverty Rate
21.2% +71% vs avg
Unemployment 6.3%
Bachelor's Degree+ 16.2%
Work From Home 5.4%
Public Transit 2.4%

Population

White 91.3%
African American 2.1%
Two or More Ethnicities 3.2%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Obesity
41.9%
High Blood Pressure
41.1%
Short Sleep Duration
34.6%
Physical Inactivity
30%
Frequent Mental Distress
19.4%
Current Smoking
19.1%
Frequent Physical Distress
17.3%
Binge Drinking
15.3%
Diabetes
14.2%
Current Asthma
12.4%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 62%
Annual Checkup 80.8%

Other Measures

Coronary Heart Disease
9.4%
Lack of Health Insurance
7.8%
Stroke
4.8%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
1
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
3/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
MYMICHIGAN MEDICAL CENTER ALPENA
ALPENA · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★☆☆

Alerts & News - Alpena Area

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Alpena right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Alpena, MI? ▼
Alpena, MI has a population of 10,175 people, located in Alpena County, Michigan.
What is the median household income in Alpena? ▼
The median household income in Alpena, MI is $47,545 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 21.2%.
What is the median home value in Alpena? ▼
The median home value in Alpena, MI is $118,700. Median rent is $625/month.
What are the top health concerns in Alpena? ▼
The top health indicators in Alpena include Obesity (41.9%), High Blood Pressure (41.1%), Short Sleep Duration (34.6%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Alpena? ▼
Alpena has 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Alpena? ▼
The median age in Alpena, MI is 46 years. 16.2% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Safety Context

Alpena, MI is located in Alpena County, Michigan. With a population of 10K and a $47,545 median household income, the community faces health challenges including obesity and high blood pressure. Residents have access to 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. Safety alerts for the Alpena area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.

Safety Guides

How Product Recalls Work

CPSC, FDA & NHTSA recall process explained

Understanding Weather Alerts

Watch vs warning vs advisory explained

Earthquake Magnitude Explained

What the numbers mean & when to act
All safety guides →

Primary source data

EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data

Federal monitoring network, every measurement we report

AirNow - Michigan

Real-time AQI for every monitored Michigan location

National Weather Service

NOAA active watches, warnings, advisories

CDC Air Quality & Health

Health-impact reference for every AQI category

EPA NAAQS standards

National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the regulatory thresholds

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Alpena, both outside Michigan so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside MI (21.2% here).

Paterson, NJ 21.2% Beaumont, TX 21.2% Lake Worth Beach, FL 21.2% Mastic Beach, NY 21.2%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside MI ($47,545 here).

Huntsville, TX $47,529 Ferguson, MO $47,524 Kankakee, IL $47,514 North Adams, MA $47,500

Nearby Cities 8

Bay City, MI 34K Midland, MI 42K Sault Ste. Marie, MI 14K Saginaw Township North, MI 25K Saginaw, MI 49K Mount Pleasant, MI 26K Beecher, MI 10K Flint, MI 98K
All cities in Michigan → Compare Alpena vs Bay City → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Alpena's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Alpena area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Alpena against Michigan peers on any ranking lens. Explore Michigan

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Alpena County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.