Italian Population in Macomb County, MI by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Italian population in Macomb County, MI is officially recorded at 90,432, with all of the county''s incorporated cities reporting residents of Italian ancestry. Among them, Macomb township (14,203), Clinton charter township (11,007), and Sterling Heights (10,404) account for the largest shares. Interestingly, when adding up individual city estimates, the total surpasses the county-level figure - a difference that often arises from how city and county statistics are modeled separately. Below, we explore how Italian communities are distributed across Michigan''s more urbanized and fragmented counties.

Top 5 cities with the largest Italian population in Macomb County

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  • 1
    Macomb township
    Italian population in Macomb township is 14,203
    15.45% of Macomb township population is Italian
  • 2
    Clinton charter township
    Italian population in Clinton charter township is 11,007
    11.01% of Clinton charter township population is Italian
  • 3
    Sterling Heights
    Italian population in Sterling Heights is 10,404
    7.79% of Sterling Heights population is Italian
  • 4
    Shelby charter township
    Italian population in Shelby charter township is 10,261
    12.89% of Shelby charter township population is Italian
  • 5
    Warren
    Italian population in Warren is 8,841
    6.40% of Warren population is Italian

Overview of Italian population in Macomb County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data document Macomb County with 90,432 Italian residents (10.3% of 877,624 total county population), placing the jurisdiction at the 99th percentile nationally among counties and 98th percentile within Michigan for Italian population density, with demographic concentrations among the highest nationwide.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Macomb County's Italian population of 10.3% surpassing both Michigan's state average of 4.4% and the national average of 4.9%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey indicate Macomb County's 90,432 Italian residents constitute 20.7% of Michigan's total Italian population of 437,343, placing the county among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 20.7% of all Michigan Italian Americans residing within county boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data shows Macomb County maintains 188.7 Italian Americans per square mile, representing twenty-four and a half times Michigan's average of 7.7 per square mile, establishing the county as an exceptional concentration center comparable to major metropolitan demographic areas.
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26 Cities in Macomb County Ranked by Italian Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Italian populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in Macomb township, Clinton charter township, Sterling Heights, and Shelby charter township. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 26 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Macomb County, MI ranked by Italian population count
Rank by Italian Population
City
Italian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Macomb County Italian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Macomb township 14,203 15.45% 15.71%
2 Clinton charter township 11,007 11.01% 12.17%
3 Sterling Heights 10,404 7.79% 11.50%
4 Shelby charter township 10,261 12.89% 11.35%
5 Warren 8,841 6.40% 9.78%
6 St. Clair Shores 7,144 12.26% 7.90%
7 Chesterfield township 5,996 13.18% 6.63%
8 4,671 9.89% 5.17%
9 3,854 13.58% 4.26%
10 2,584 10.72% 2.86%
11 1,769 5.20% 1.96%
12 1,697 11.62% 1.88%
13 1,595 16.74% 1.76%
14 1,428 11.56% 1.58%
15 1,401 11.62% 1.55%
16 856 5.50% 0.95%
17 788 12.43% 0.87%
18 711 18.81% 0.79%
19 554 6.56% 0.61%
20 501 9.43% 0.55%
21 432 8.33% 0.48%
22 385 6.59% 0.43%
23 331 9.06% 0.37%
24 123 6.56% 0.14%
25 95 8.58% 0.11%
26 52 1.48% 0.06%
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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 city in Macomb County, MI by their Italian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Italian population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Italian ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Italian alone, while others identify as Italian along with another race (such as Italian and German).
  • We’ve used the “Italian alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Italian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Italian alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Italian .
  2. % of Total Macomb County Italian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Italian 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 Italian 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.
  • City that don’t have any reported Italian 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 Italian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.