2025

Counties in Michigan ranked by White Population

This list ranks the 83 counties in Michigan based on their White population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest White population in Michigan

View All
  • 1
    Wayne County
    White population in Wayne County is 985,013
    52.00% of Wayne County population is White
  • 2
    Oakland County
    White population in Oakland County is 974,951
    71.67% of Oakland County population is White
  • 3
    Macomb County
    White population in Macomb County is 712,566
    76.80% of Macomb County population is White
  • 4
    Kent County
    White population in Kent County is 547,547
    75.17% of Kent County population is White
  • 5
    Genesee County
    White population in Genesee County is 314,654
    73.38% of Genesee County population is White

List of 83 counties in Michigan by White Population

View Methodology
Rank by White Population
County
White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Michigan White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Wayne County 985,013 52.00% 12.14%
2 Oakland County 974,951 71.67% 12.02%
3 Macomb County 712,566 76.80% 8.78%
4 Kent County 547,547 75.17% 6.75%
5 Genesee County 314,654 73.38% 3.88%
6 Washtenaw County 284,718 71.37% 3.51%
7 Ottawa County 273,126 85.86% 3.37%
8 222,686 72.06% 2.75%
9 218,588 77.45% 2.69%
10 190,541 94.11% 2.35%
11 153,383 91.67% 1.89%
12 148,848 90.86% 1.83%
13 148,166 78.16% 1.83%
14 146,354 72.92% 1.80%
15 144,471 84.21% 1.78%
16 124,897 75.93% 1.54%
17 115,527 89.54% 1.42%
18 113,410 78.15% 1.40%
19 100,455 91.66% 1.24%
20 96,587 82.99% 1.19%
21 94,297 88.95% 1.16%
22 92,947 92.65% 1.15%
23 85,770 91.61% 1.06%
24 79,220 90.94% 0.98%
25 75,496 89.83% 0.93%
26 68,781 82.89% 0.85%
27 66,704 94.72% 0.82%
28 64,046 91.33% 0.79%
29 63,430 88.80% 0.78%
30 62,492 87.90% 0.77%
31 61,464 93.61% 0.76%
32 58,629 85.70% 0.72%
33 58,026 87.78% 0.72%
34 51,736 93.50% 0.64%
35 48,285 90.30% 0.60%
36 47,554 86.70% 0.59%
37 44,860 94.49% 0.55%
38 42,780 89.21% 0.53%
39 39,734 93.86% 0.49%
40 38,458 90.51% 0.47%
41 38,103 87.31% 0.47%
42 35,825 90.91% 0.44%
43 35,272 91.88% 0.43%
44 33,054 92.55% 0.41%
45 32,848 90.55% 0.40%
46 30,459 94.35% 0.38%
47 30,447 94.38% 0.38%
48 28,598 70.31% 0.35%
49 28,364 93.45% 0.35%
50 28,247 92.57% 0.35%
51 25,626 89.03% 0.32%
52 25,481 93.65% 0.31%
53 25,175 93.43% 0.31%
54 25,074 94.36% 0.31%
55 24,816 93.97% 0.31%
56 24,653 92.53% 0.30%
57 24,566 90.33% 0.30%
58 23,800 89.18% 0.29%
59 23,346 93.79% 0.29%
60 23,306 93.79% 0.29%
61 22,414 92.30% 0.28%
62 22,357 92.94% 0.28%
63 21,478 90.57% 0.26%
64 20,393 94.02% 0.25%
65 17,636 93.89% 0.22%
66 17,409 92.29% 0.21%
67 14,852 92.51% 0.18%
68 14,772 93.88% 0.18%
69 13,691 92.05% 0.17%
70 12,995 95.71% 0.16%
71 12,921 93.45% 0.16%
72 11,236 93.07% 0.14%
73 10,860 80.50% 0.13%
74 10,088 94.36% 0.12%
75 9,248 94.15% 0.11%
76 8,640 73.57% 0.11%
77 8,200 94.38% 0.10%
78 7,732 82.55% 0.10%
79 7,494 85.37% 0.09%
80 6,605 74.42% 0.08%
81 5,730 93.63% 0.07%
82 5,260 78.37% 0.06%
83 2,096 96.10% 0.03%

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Michigan by their White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines White Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as White, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as White alone, while others identify as White along with another race (such as White and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and White .
  • We’ve used the “White alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the White population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as White alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as White .
  2. % of Total Michigan White Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. White population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small White populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported White population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where White populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.