Economic Division in Washtenaw County

Washtenaw County has been ranked as the most economically divided county in Michigan according to the most recent Economic Gap analysis. Washtenaw County is also one of the most divided in the nation at 44th of nearly 3,000 counties in the United States.

In comparison to the 2010 results of this analysis, Washtenaw County’s overall economic division index value has decreased by about 3%, from 0.37 to 0.36 in 2022. However, this slight decrease was typical of the more populated counties resulting in Washtenaw County’s rating to worsen from 50th to 44th in the nation. Likewise, the 5 most economically divided Michigan counties – Washtenaw, Wayne, Kent, Ingham, and Oakland – all decreased slightly, but Washtenaw County decreased the least and overtook Wayne County as the most divided in Michigan.

This Washtenaw County map displays disproportions in where people live in our county based on some of the economic division measures. The census tracts in dark red are areas with a disproportionately high number of people that are experiencing poverty, have not graduated high school, and/or are working within the service or industrial professions. Within the City of Ann Arbor, there is some imbalance in the area surrounding the University of Michigan – primarily from more people working in the service industry – but with the student population there, it is not unexpected to see, and it was not a key driver in the overall story for the county. The neighboring City of Ypsilanti, as well as Ypsilanti Township and southern portions of Superior Township, are where we find the largest cluster of disproportion in the county. Despite being home to 25% of Washtenaw County’s population, nearly 50% of the families experiencing poverty in our county live in these areas. Of the limited positive change observed since 2010, most was driven by a decrease in our separation of wealth index – a greater disbursement of high-income households across the county, which can be seen primarily in the lightest areas of the map above.