Lansing's Housing Crisis: By the Tract

LANSING, Mich. — Part 1 showed that 70% of Lansing renter households do not earn enough to cover housing and basic needs. Part 2 showed that 40% of homeowner households face the same deficit. Part 3 showed that 65,000 workers in the metro area earn median wages below the threshold. Those posts described the crisis across Lansing as a whole. This post, using Census tract data, CDC health statistics, and county assessment records, shows where in the city the crisis is worst and who lives there.

Key findings

• The 17 lowest-income tracts (median household income under $50,000) are 52.5% nonwhite on average, with a hardship rate of 51.7% and 15 of 17 classified as areas of food apartheid. The 5 highest-income tracts (above $65,000) are 28.0% nonwhite, with a hardship rate of 26.6%.
• Tract 7 (48906): median income $39,397, 66.5% nonwhite, 69.4% hardship. Tract 33.02 (48906): median income $84,375, 30.2% nonwhite, 12.4% hardship, both in the same ZIP code.
• The lowest-value homes are in the tracts with the highest poverty rates, and Part 2 showed those homes are assessed at 188% of sale price. The households least able to pay are taxed the most per dollar of actual home value.

The map

1935

In 1935, the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation graded Lansing's neighborhoods from A ("Best," green) to D ("Hazardous," red). The MSU Extension redlining project notes that the area description files for Lansing, which would document the racial language used to justify each grade, have not been located and may no longer exist.

The table below ranks 35 Lansing-area census tracts by median household income, with ZIP code for orientation and the HOLC grade from 1935 where one was assigned. The only D-grade tract, Tract 12 in 48912, today has a median income of $41,495, a nonwhite population of 56.6%, and a hardship rate of 66.7%. The only A-grade tract, Tract 38.01 in 48823, has a median income of $90,868 and a hardship rate of 21.7%.

Sources: ACS 5-year 2023 (income, poverty, demographics). United for ALICE / ACS (hardship). USDA (low-access). Mapping Inequality (1935 HOLC grades). Census ZCTA crosswalk (ZIP codes). Pink = below $50,000 median income. Green = above $65,000.

Tract	ZIP	1935	Income	Poverty	Nonwhite	Home value	Hardship	Low access
37	48910	C	$34,253	22.1%	54.4%	$109,900	43.0%	Y
53.04	48911		$37,188	29.1%	64.3%	$98,600	55.1%
7	48906	B	$39,397	43.0%	66.5%	$108,600	69.4%	Y
66	48906	C	$39,852	31.5%	50.8%	$106,800	49.6%	Y
6	48933	B	$41,384	27.0%	38.4%	$113,700	46.4%	Y
29.02	48910	C	$41,494	29.6%	56.2%	$93,800	52.5%
12	48912	D	$41,495	25.1%	56.6%	$86,900	66.7%	Y
67	48915	C	$41,579	17.9%	49.3%	$165,700	49.4%	Y
20	48910	C	$41,645	25.9%	41.8%	$58,900	61.7%	Y
52.01	48911		$42,414	18.3%	56.9%	$72,900	44.2%	Y
1	48906	C	$44,611	16.0%	44.2%	$80,300	40.2%	Y
36.02	48911	C	$45,052	29.8%	58.7%	$98,900	53.3%	Y
32	48906	C	$46,500	25.8%	40.0%	$84,300	47.9%	Y
51	48911	C	$46,816	16.9%	42.4%	$96,900	41.1%	Y
21.01	48912	C	$46,920	20.0%	74.1%	$76,100	47.6%	Y
33.01	48906	C	$47,955	30.4%	50.4%	$121,000	49.6%	Y
8	48906	C	$48,627	26.1%	48.2%	$74,600	60.3%	Y
23	48910	C	$50,318	16.2%	32.3%	$98,600	44.6%
68	48915	C	$50,533	17.2%	54.4%	$65,100	44.1%	Y
26	48910	C	$51,250	20.5%	58.4%	$96,100	34.5%	Y
65	48912	B	$51,698	19.2%	29.5%	$132,300	39.9%	Y
53.03	48911		$52,841	14.8%	57.6%	$143,400	51.1%	Y
10	48912	B	$53,656	18.8%	25.5%	$110,400	38.0%	Y
27	48910	C	$56,944	13.4%	47.3%	$97,400	30.5%	Y
17.03	48911	C	$57,075	7.8%	46.6%	$182,700	35.5%
53.06	48911		$57,131	17.6%	24.1%	$144,200	31.7%
29.01	48910	C	$59,191	13.8%	28.7%	$146,900	33.8%	Y
31.03	48912	C	$62,658	16.8%	38.5%	$184,500	30.7%
28	48910	C	$63,281	17.5%	17.2%	$102,900	34.8%	Y
36.01	48911	C	$63,938	20.8%	70.5%	$102,800	42.6%	Y
4	48915	B	$65,188	11.9%	21.9%	$101,300	33.9%
22	48910	C	$67,404	15.7%	19.9%	$129,900	30.5%
70	48910	C	$68,629	8.5%	35.2%	$115,500	34.4%	Y
33.02	48906	C	$84,375	5.4%	30.2%	$163,600	12.4%
38.01	48823	A	$90,868	9.0%	32.8%	$203,600	21.7%

The 17 tracts below $50,000 median income are 52.5% nonwhite on average, with a hardship rate of 51.7% and 15 of 17 classified as areas of food apartheid. The 5 tracts above $65,000 are 28.0% nonwhite, with a hardship rate of 26.6%. The five B-grade tracts (4, 6, 7, 10, and 65) have an average median income of $50,265, with 36.4% nonwhite population, four of five classified as areas of food apartheid, and 69% of their housing stock built before 1950.

Health

CDC PLACES obesity rates average above 35% in the 12 lowest-income tracts and below 30% in the 4 highest-income tracts, and diabetes rates above 13% versus below 11%. In Tract 7 (median income $39,397, 66.5% nonwhite, 48906), 69.4% of residents meet the hardship threshold, the highest rate in the city, compared to 12.4% in Tract 33.02 (median income $84,375, 30.2% nonwhite, same ZIP).

Assessment

Part 2 found that Lansing homes that sold under $50,000 are assessed at 188% of their sale-price-based value. The lowest-value homes in the table above are concentrated in the tracts with the lowest incomes, the highest poverty rates, and the highest nonwhite population shares.

A homeowner in Tract 20 (median home value $58,900, 48910) and a homeowner in Tract 31.03 (median home value $184,500, 48912) both pay 62.6 mills. But the Tract 20 homeowner's assessed value is more likely to exceed their home's actual market value, meaning they pay a higher effective rate on what their home is actually worth.

Related

• Food access: The USDA Food Access Research Atlas identifies 25 of the 35 tracts above as low-income, low-access areas.
• Eviction geography: 55th District Court eviction filings, mapped by address to census tract, would show whether eviction rates follow the same income and demographic patterns.

---

Sources and methodology

Census data: ACS 5-year 2023, B19013 (median household income by tract), B03002 (race and ethnicity, used to compute nonwhite share), B25077 (median home value), B17001 (poverty status). Health data: CDC PLACES 2024 release, tract-level modeled estimates. Assessment data: Part 2 analysis of City of Lansing 2025 parcel export. Mill rate: 2025 Ingham County Apportionment Report.

This analysis covers 35 census tracts within and adjacent to Lansing city, excluding institutional tracts (9801, 9802) and one suburban tract (102.04). ZIP codes from the Census 2020 ZCTA-to-tract crosswalk, assigned by largest area overlap. Lansing extends into Eaton County (western neighborhoods), which are not included. HOLC grades from Mapping Inequality (University of Richmond), overlaid to census tracts by predominant zone coverage. Hardship rate combines poverty, ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), and housing cost burden from ACS and United for ALICE.