Why Everyone Is Moving to Michigan's Wealthiest County

Ajouté : 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]When most people think of wealthy cities here in Michigan, they think of cities like Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Ann Arbor, or even Traverse City for that matter. These are names that people have heard of. Now, that makes sense because that's where the search results do point you. But, there's one area that tops the rankings with the highest median household income here in Southeast Michigan and all of Michigan for that matter. And most of the people I talked to have hardly even heard about it. And to be honest with you guys, the locals like it that way. [music] But, it is growing and I'm going to have this full report down in the description below.

[00:00:31]It's got some good information about this county. And if you're thinking about moving here, this would be a good report to grab. The area that I'm talking about is Livingston County. Now, this is home to the cities like Brighton and Howell as the two major cities that kind of anchor the county. And it's the highest income county in all of Michigan, okay? Not one of the highest, >> [music] >> it's the highest beating out Oakland County. Okay, this is cities like Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. So, when you think about wealth and you think about Oakland County, well, Livingston has got you beat. Hey, if you're new here, my name is Eric Waldrum and my team and I help people just like you make that move to Brighton, Ann Arbor, and the surrounding areas. You know, we've helped people in your exact situation and whether you're moving in 1 month or 1 year from now, yes, feel free to reach out. We'll help you, too. And make sure you subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any of our new videos, which I drop every single week. So, let's take a look at the numbers first.

[00:01:18]You know, the median household income in Livingston County is $103,000 annually, okay? That's number one out of all 83 counties in Michigan. You know, it's 42% above the state [music] average. And when I first looked at this number, I honestly wasn't expecting it.

[00:01:34]I had to verify it, you know, but the part that makes a lot of sense, you know, when you look at the geography of this, is Livingston County sits between Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Lansing, okay?

[00:01:44]These are three major job hubs all within 45 minutes of Livingston County.

[00:01:48]It's kind of like the golden triangle.

[00:01:50][music] And with hybrid work being what it is now, the geography of everything just changed, you know, for a lot of people, including [music] myself. You can have a serious career in any of these three cities and quite frankly still [music] be home for dinner, still coach, you know, Tuesday night soccer practice with the kids, and live in a place you absolutely love. So, that's what's driving those income numbers. You know, people are earning city wages and choosing to live here. You know, for lack of better term, Livingston County is a bedroom community. There's not a ton of big businesses in Livingston County. Yes, there are some. There are some, you know, high-paying jobs, but most people are traveling outside of Livingston County for work and then coming back to the place that they absolutely love to raise their families, good schools, and things I'm going to cover in this video. So, when Briana and I moved out of Ann Arbor, we weren't looking for the most impressive zip code. Okay, that wasn't even a thing for me. It wasn't even important. Um we were looking for a place that we actually wanted to raise our girls. You know, we wanted them outside playing. We wanted neighborhoods where we'd actually get to know people. We wanted Sunday mornings to feel slow, like a Sunday morning should. So, for us, Brighton checked a lot of those boxes. You know, it's got a great little downtown. It's walkable.

[00:02:58]Everything you need is local. Okay, it's the convenience of shopping, uh dining, going out, recreation. Everything you need is right here. But, you do get the major cities like Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing 45 minutes away if you really need it. And the other major city in Livingston County is Howell, Michigan, which is the county seat, you know, and it has a similar slower feel to it that Brighton does [music] as well. The downtown is going through some changes.

[00:03:22]Businesses are changing over just like Brighton is, but most people who live in Howell and Brighton, they're all about local. Okay, they love the community events and the growth here is happening, but I think a lot of people are really being cautious and careful about how the city grows. And a lot of local businesses and a lot of uh people here, you know, truly fight [music] for that.

[00:03:43]You know, the the data center that was coming into Howell, Residents here in Livingston County showed up in mass letting Howell's Board of Trustees know exactly how they feel about a proposed data center. It's bad. It's all bad [laughter] and it's big money trying to buy out little towns. It's that simple. There's nothing else to say about it. Big money trying to buy out little towns and as you could tell, everybody that spoke tonight was against it. Everybody.

[00:04:10]asked.

[00:04:11]They like the locals took over. So, if you're looking for a city and a county that you know people care, like that's what matters to a lot of local residents.

[00:04:20]>> And I can't talk about Livingston County without talking about the outdoors, which I think surprises a lot of people when they actually get here. You know, there's over 100 lakes in Livingston County. The Pinckney chain of lakes, Woodland Lake, Chemung, Crooked Lake, Brighton [music] Lake. You know, people here love being on the water in the summers. And a lot of these lake communities, which started as a lot of cottage communities for people in the Metro Detroit area, these have grown into year-round, absolutely beautiful lake communities. And I want to give you a look at the real estate market in Livingston County to give you an honest picture of what the market actually looks like right now. The median home value across the county is around $399,000.

[00:04:57]You know, as of recently, that's up about 3% from the year before. You know, Livingston County is not this like undiscovered place. You know, a lot of locals you know about it. A lot of people from Metro Detroit are moving to it and you know, obviously, you know, you guys who are watching this looking to move into this area, you know, are figuring it out for the first time as well, but it is not a secret. You know, people are moving, but the inventory is pretty tight in a lot of these markets because it's in such high demand. You know, homes that are priced right, especially like Hartland, Howell, Brighton, South Lyon, these homes are still moving very quickly. And one of the more competitive markets is Brighton. You know, specifically, people want to be in the Brighton school district. So, when it comes to homes in Brighton, you know, those are going super quick. Again, if the price right, a lot of factors that go into it. But most of the time, we're at a low inventory point, which like this as I'm shooting this video, typically we'd have about 40 to 50 homes, you know, come to market on a given week. You know, this week we showed about 10, right? So, it's not a lot of inventory coming and people are on pins and needles waiting for more inventory, more inventory to come to market, but the homes do go quickly. So, beyond the home prices, I think the economics of Livingston County is really worth understanding because it tells you where the county's heading, not just where it is right now. You know, the University of Michigan ran projections in 2024 and it showed Livingston County job growth outpacing the pre-pandemic levels by 5.6% by year end of 2026, which is this year. And compared to 2.9% of Michigan overall, that's a pretty big increase in job growth overall. And the unemployment rate in Livingston County here hit 2% and that is the lowest in the entire state. So, this isn't just a county that's coasting on a good reputation. You know, the fundamentals are still moving in the right direction.

[00:06:43]And two things that matter a lot to us personally that came up in almost every conversation I have with you guys when you're thinking about making a move here, if you do have a family, are schools and safety. So, on the school side, the Brighton High School ranks 42nd in the entire state of Michigan and the Hartland High School jumped from 153rd all the way to the 69th position in a single year. And that's a big jump, okay? And that kind of jump doesn't just happen by accident. That's an actual district that's growing with a lot of involvement. And when we look at Brighton Area Schools as a district, they are ranked 25th in Michigan by niche.com. So, if you have kids in sports, they're also rated sixth in the entire state for athletics, which I know sounds kind of secondary to the academic section of this, but if your kid is serious about playing sports at a high level, that actually matters. And when it comes to safety, I have to put a disclaimer in here. I can never tell you if an area is safe or not as a real estate professional, but what I can do is point you in the right direction in terms of the stats, okay? So, what I'm going to share with you is from crimegrade.com and that rates Livingston County in the 99th percentile for overall safety nationally. Okay, Hamburg Township recorded the lowest total crime rate in the entire [music] state. You know, Green Oak Township, which is right by Brighton, and these are all areas like mailing addresses of Brighton, but these townships kind of surround the Brighton area. That is in the top 10 safest communities in all of Michigan. And for me and my wife, when it came to safety, that was just a non-negotiable. Okay, and I think for most families I talk to, it's the same way, you know. And Livingston County definitely delivers on that. And look you guys, I'm not going to tell you that Livingston County is perfect or that it's a right fit for every single family. There's a lot of great places in Southeast Michigan, all of Michigan to live, [music] you know, but Livingston County is not a really flashy place and it doesn't try to be.

[00:08:24]Okay, and honestly, I think that's a big part of why people land here and tend to stay. But what I can tell you is that the data backs up what we felt when we made this decision to move our family to the area. You know, the income numbers are real, the school rankings are real, the safety data is real, >> [music] >> and the quality of life that we've experienced living here, that's real, too. And this is the crazy part that I mentioned before. You know, when I had those Zoom calls with you guys, you were describing this area to a T and when I bring up Livingston County or Brighton or Howell or any of these areas, you're like, "Oh, I wasn't even thinking about that. Maybe that was a little bit too far >> [music] >> outside of the zone that you were kind of looking in or you didn't really know if this was a small town or like how that kind of worked out." But it's worth considering because Livingston County ends up checking most of the boxes. So, hopefully this video gave you a good overview of what Livingston County is like. you want more information, go grab the report I put in the description down below. And if you guys if you're thinking about making the move, you know, reach out to me and my team. You know, we specialize in relocation to the area. I got a link in the description down below. Um, it's how we map out the exact plan for your relocation and get everything dialed in. And as always, make sure you subscribe to the channel if you want more videos just like this.

[00:09:29]I cover Ann Arbor, Livingston County, the lakes, all of it in the area and I release new videos every single week.

[00:09:35]So, if you want more information, go check out the other videos on our channel. I got a few of them right here, and I will see you on the next one.

[00:10:00]Hey.