Iron River is a very small city located in the state of Michigan. With a population of 3,004 people and just one neighborhood, Iron River is the 274th largest community in Michigan. Much of the housing stock in Iron River was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Iron River is a blue-collar town, with 39.25% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, Iron River is a city of service providers, production and manufacturing workers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Iron River who work in food service (11.06%), office and administrative support (9.40%), and sales jobs (7.46%).
The city is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Iron River has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Iron River a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Iron River spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.03 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
Iron River is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The education level of Iron River citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 18.27% of adults 25 and older in Iron River have a college degree.
The per capita income in Iron River in 2022 was $26,206, which is lower middle income relative to Michigan and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $104,824 for a family of four. However, Iron River contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Iron River home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Iron River residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Iron River include Italian, German, Polish, Swedish, and English.
The most common language spoken in Iron River 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.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 62.3% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 34.6% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 96.3% 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.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Finnish and Swedish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 9.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 7.1% have Swedish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Iron River are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 91.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 48.1% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 93.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 36.4% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 25.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (23.7%), and 13.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.0% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Iron River, MI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (17.7%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (17.5%), and residents who report English roots (10.8%), and some of the residents are also of Polish ancestry (9.7%), along with some Finnish ancestry residents (9.2%), 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 under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (62.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (82.7%) 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 (12.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.