HomeMichiganMecosta CountyBig Rapids city
Big Rapids city, Michigan: commercial real estate data.
Big Rapids city is a Census city of 8,477 people across 4.45 square miles of land, in Mecosta County. Median household income is $43,858, 41.5 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 23 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $10.8 m.
80 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Big Rapids
What Big Rapids is
- Census place typecity
- Land area4.45 sq mi
- Water area0.12 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land1,907
- County holding the largest share of its areaMecosta 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.
Big Rapids
How many people live in Big Rapids
- Population8,477
- Median age22.9
- Population under 181,042
- Share under 1812.3 percent
- Population 65 and over825 plus or minus 167
- Share 65 and over9.7 percent plus or minus 2.0
- Households3,133
- Family households1,095
- Share of households that are families35.0 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Big Rapids
Income and work in Big Rapids
- Median household income$43,858
- Per capita income$23,446
- Civilian labor force4,885
- Employed4,673
- Unemployed212 plus or minus 79
- Unemployment rate4.3 percent plus or minus 1.6
- Adults 25 and over3,436
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher94.3 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher26.9 percent plus or minus 5.5
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree7.9 percent plus or minus 2.5
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Big Rapids
Housing in Big Rapids
- Housing units3,610
- Occupied units3,133
- Vacant units477 plus or minus 191
- Vacancy rate13.2 percent plus or minus 5.2
- Owner occupied1,299
- Renter occupied1,834
- Ownership rate41.5 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$156,400
- Median gross rent, monthly$929
- Annual rent as a share of median income25.4 percent
- Single family units1,594
- Share single family44.2 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more1,795
- Share in buildings of two or more49.7 percent
- Mobile homes221 plus or minus 85
- Median year structure built1965
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Big Rapids
How Big Rapids gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute3,974
- Commuting under 15 minutes2,526
- Share commuting under 15 minutes63.6 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more573 plus or minus 152
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more14.4 percent plus or minus 3.6
- Drove alone67.7 percent
- Carpooled7.4 percent plus or minus 2.7
- Public transport0.5 percent plus or minus 0.6
- Walked12.8 percent plus or minus 3.0
- Worked from home9.0 percent plus or minus 2.8
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Big Rapids
SBA loans in Big Rapids (7(a))
- Approvals23
- Gross approval$10,759,100
- Average approval$467,787
- Median approval$75,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,050,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported268
- Jobs per approval11.7
- Loans with a final outcome4
- Paid in full4
- Charged off0
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more0.0 percent
- Share to franchises26.1 percent
- Distinct lenders6
- Distinct industries by NAICS15
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 4 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.
Big Rapids
SBA loans in Big Rapids (504)
- Approvals4
- Gross approval$4,939,000
- Average approval$1,234,750
- Median approval$924,000
- Largest approval$3,162,000
- Jobs supported78
- Loans with a final outcome2
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs2
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Big Rapids
Flood risk in Big Rapids
- Listed NFIP communities2
- Of those, participating2
- NFIP community number260135
- Currently effective map date02/04/15(M)
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.
Mecosta County, not Big Rapids
Mecosta County context, not Big Rapids figures
These are Mecosta County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Big Rapids measurements.
- Establishments in Mecosta County727
- Employment at those establishments, Mecosta County9,425
- Covered employment, Mecosta County12,746
- Average annual pay, Mecosta County$45,193
- Average weekly wage, Mecosta County$869
- Housing units permitted, Mecosta County116
- Of those, single family, Mecosta County116
- County product, 2024, Mecosta County$1,626,071,000
- County product change over the prior year, Mecosta County-1.0 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Mecosta County$52,638
Every figure in this section is published for Mecosta County as a whole and is not a measurement of Big Rapids. 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
Big Rapids questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Big Rapids, Michigan?
8,477, in 3,133 households. Big Rapids city covers 4.45 square miles of land, which is 1,907 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Big Rapids in?
Mecosta 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 Big Rapids?
$43,858. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $156,400. Median gross rent is $929 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Big Rapids businesses?
23 7(a) approvals totalling $10.8 m, across 6 lenders, median approval $75,000, plus 4 504 approvals worth $4.9 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Big Rapids, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Big Rapids borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Big Rapids. only 4 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 Big Rapids in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. Big Rapids appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 260135, 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 Big Rapids figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Mecosta 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 Big Rapids.
Is zoning published for Big Rapids?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.
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