Mexican Population in Kent County, MI by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Mexican population in Kent County, MI is officially recorded at 48,152, with all of the county''s incorporated cities reporting residents of Mexican ancestry. Among them, Grand Rapids (19,634), Wyoming (12,871), and Kentwood (4,028) 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 Mexican communities are distributed across Michigan''s more urbanized and fragmented counties.

Top 5 cities with the largest Mexican population in Kent County

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  • 1
    Grand Rapids
    Mexican population in Grand Rapids is 19,634
    9.93% of Grand Rapids population is Mexican
  • 2
    Wyoming
    Mexican population in Wyoming is 12,871
    16.74% of Wyoming population is Mexican
  • 3
    Kentwood
    Mexican population in Kentwood is 4,028
    7.44% of Kentwood population is Mexican
  • 4
    Alpine township
    Mexican population in Alpine township is 1,901
    13.56% of Alpine township population is Mexican
  • 5
    Walker
    Mexican population in Walker is 1,145
    4.54% of Walker population is Mexican

Overview of Mexican population in Kent County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data shows Kent County contains 48,152 Mexican residents (7.3% of 658,844 total county population), ranking the jurisdiction at the 96th percentile nationally among counties and 97th percentile within Michigan for Mexican demographic concentrations across both absolute and proportional measures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS indicate Kent County's Mexican population of 7.3% exceeds Michigan's state average of 4% while remaining below the national average of 11.3%, placing the county above regional demographic benchmarks while below national concentration levels.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey indicate Kent County's 48,152 Mexican residents constitute 12.1% of Michigan's total Mexican population of 398,320, placing the county among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 12.1% of all Michigan Mexican Americans residing within county boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document Kent County with 56.7 Mexican Americans per square mile, just over eight times Michigan's average density of 7 per square mile, placing the county among the most densely concentrated jurisdictions within the state.
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33 Cities in Kent County Ranked by Mexican Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Mexican populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Kentwood, and Alpine township. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 33 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Kent County, MI ranked by Mexican population count
Rank by Mexican Population
City
Mexican Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Kent County Mexican Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Grand Rapids 19,634 9.93% 40.78%
2 Wyoming 12,871 16.74% 26.73%
3 Kentwood 4,028 7.44% 8.37%
4 Alpine township 1,901 13.56% 3.95%
5 Walker 1,145 4.54% 2.38%
6 Byron township 1,009 3.70% 2.10%
7 Gaines charter township 952 3.27% 1.98%
8 920 2.73% 1.91%
9 629 3.90% 1.31%
10 547 10.79% 1.14%
11 524 2.66% 1.09%
12 459 7.51% 0.95%
13 422 2.23% 0.88%
14 323 2.24% 0.67%
15 302 2.10% 0.63%
16 295 1.82% 0.61%
17 291 23.89% 0.60%
18 282 7.70% 0.59%
19 275 3.05% 0.57%
20 272 6.58% 0.56%
21 204 2.16% 0.42%
22 196 3.11% 0.41%
23 195 1.61% 0.41%
24 149 2.42% 0.31%
25 144 3.45% 0.30%
26 123 3.74% 0.26%
27 111 0.97% 0.23%
28 105 1.61% 0.22%
29 102 2.68% 0.21%
30 65 3.36% 0.14%
31 64 1.50% 0.13%
32 17 0.35% 0.04%
33 16 0.33% 0.03%
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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 Kent County, MI by their Mexican population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Mexican 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 Mexican 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 Mexican alone, while others identify as Mexican along with another race (such as Mexican and German).
  • We’ve used the “Mexican alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Mexican population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Mexican 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 Mexican .
  2. % of Total Kent County Mexican Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Mexican 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 Mexican 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 Mexican 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 Mexican populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

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