HomeMichiganBerrien CountyBenton Harbor city
Benton Harbor city, Michigan: commercial real estate data.
Benton Harbor city is a Census city of 8,953 people across 4.39 square miles of land, in Berrien County. Median household income is $31,117, 36.7 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 24 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $14.1 m.
80 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections
Benton Harbor
What Benton Harbor is
- Census place typecity
- Land area4.39 sq mi
- Water area0.24 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land2,041
- County holding the largest share of its areaBerrien County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Benton Harbor
How many people live in Benton Harbor
- Population8,953
- Median age32.8
- Population under 182,758
- Share under 1830.8 percent
- Population 65 and over918 plus or minus 216
- Share 65 and over10.3 percent plus or minus 2.4
- Households3,624
- Family households2,463
- Share of households that are families68.0 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Benton Harbor
Income and work in Benton Harbor
- Median household income$31,117
- Per capita income$18,667
- Civilian labor force3,975
- Employed3,116
- Unemployed859 plus or minus 220
- Unemployment rate21.6 percent plus or minus 5.3
- Adults 25 and over5,462
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher80.0 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher7.4 percent plus or minus 2.1
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree2.0 percent plus or minus 1.1
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Benton Harbor
Housing in Benton Harbor
- Housing units4,239
- Occupied units3,624
- Vacant units615 plus or minus 127
- Vacancy rate14.5 percent
- Owner occupied1,329
- Renter occupied2,295
- Ownership rate36.7 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$76,500
- Median gross rent, monthly$851
- Annual rent as a share of median income32.8 percent plus or minus 6.7
- Single family units3,143
- Share single family74.1 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more1,073 plus or minus 264
- Share in buildings of two or more25.3 percent plus or minus 6.0
- Mobile homes23 plus or minus 25
- Median year structure built1956
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Benton Harbor
How Benton Harbor gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute2,809
- Commuting under 15 minutes1,545 plus or minus 321
- Share commuting under 15 minutes55.0 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more426 plus or minus 152
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more15.2 percent plus or minus 5.2
- Drove alone79.0 percent
- Carpooled10.0 percent plus or minus 4.9
- Public transport0.8 percent plus or minus 1.1
- Walked3.5 percent plus or minus 3.6
- Worked from home5.8 percent plus or minus 2.9
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Benton Harbor
SBA 7(a) lending to Benton Harbor borrowers
- Approvals24
- Gross approval$14,140,300
- Average approval$589,179
- Median approval$156,500
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,680,000
- Largest approval$3,547,500
- Jobs supported166
- Jobs per approval6.9
- Loans with a final outcome6
- Paid in full6
- Charged off0
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more20.8 percent
- Share to franchises12.5 percent
- Distinct lenders10
- Distinct industries by NAICS16
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 6 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a rate over that few outcomes would move several points on one loan.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Benton Harbor
SBA 504 lending to Benton Harbor borrowers
- Approvals6
- Gross approval$2,797,000
- Average approval$466,167
- Median approval$693,000
- Largest approval$723,000
- Jobs supported64
- Loans with a final outcome4
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs3
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Benton Harbor
Flood programme status in Benton Harbor
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- NFIP community number260032
- Currently effective map date04/25/24
This community carries no Community Rating System class, so no CRS premium discount applies to it.
FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Community Status Book, as retrieved.
Berrien County, not Benton Harbor
Berrien County context, not Benton Harbor figures
These are Berrien County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Benton Harbor measurements.
- Establishments in Berrien County3,561
- Employment at those establishments, Berrien County52,794
- Covered employment, Berrien County60,626
- Average annual pay, Berrien County$57,009
- Average weekly wage, Berrien County$1,096
- Housing units permitted, Berrien County354
- Of those, single family, Berrien County339
- County product, 2024, Berrien County$9,718,372,000
- County product change over the prior year, Berrien County2.4 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Berrien County$91,777
Every figure in this section is published for Berrien County as a whole and is not a measurement of Benton Harbor. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Benton Harbor questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Benton Harbor, Michigan?
8,953, in 3,624 households. Benton Harbor city covers 4.39 square miles of land, which is 2,041 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Benton Harbor in?
Berrien County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in Benton Harbor?
$31,117. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $76,500. Median gross rent is $851 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Benton Harbor businesses?
24 7(a) approvals totalling $14.1 m, across 10 lenders, median approval $156,500, plus 6 504 approvals worth $2.8 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Benton Harbor, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Benton Harbor borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Benton Harbor. only 6 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a percentage over that few outcomes would move several points on a single loan. The counts are shown instead.
Is Benton Harbor in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. Benton Harbor appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 260032, with no Community Rating System class, so no CRS discount applies. Whether a specific parcel sits in a mapped special flood hazard area is an address level question the platform answers.
Are the county figures on this page Benton Harbor figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Berrien County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Benton Harbor.
Is zoning published for Benton Harbor?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.