Central Lake is a tiny village located in the state of Michigan. With a population of 972 people and just one neighborhood, Central Lake is the 482nd largest community in Michigan.
Central Lake is a blue-collar town, with 36.31% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, Central Lake is a village of production and manufacturing workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Central Lake who work in management occupations (12.20%), office and administrative support (9.21%), and food service (8.67%).
Also of interest is that Central Lake has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Another notable thing is that Central Lake is a major vacation destination. Much of the village’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Central Lake’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Because of many things, Central Lake is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Central Lake really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Central Lake perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
The population of Central Lake overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Central Lake, 22.50% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Central Lake in 2022 was $23,834, which is low income relative to Michigan and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $95,336 for a family of four. However, Central Lake contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Central Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Central Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Central Lake include English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Irish.
The most common language spoken in Central Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
If you are planning to retire in Michigan, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in Michigan, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 98.7% of neighborhoods in MI. If a Michigan retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 44.1% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, one of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Dutch and Belgian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 9.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Dutch ancestry and 1.5% have Belgian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 7.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Polish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Central Lake are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 64.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 15.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 61.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 33.5% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 26.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.6%), and 16.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Central Lake, MI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (25.3%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (19.6%), and residents who report Irish roots (10.6%), and some of the residents are also of Dutch ancestry (9.0%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (6.4%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (67.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (16.1%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.