According to the American Community Survey, a family is defined as a “group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family.” For this post we are examining the average family size throughout Southeastern Michigan.
In the U.S., the average family size is 3.21 while in Michigan and the Southeast Michigan region that average is 3.13.
Wayne and Macomb counties were the only two in the region where the average family size in 2012 was above the average for the state and the region. The average family size in Wayne County in 2012 was 3.45, making it the largest in the region, and Macomb County’s was 3.14.
Wayne County’s large average family size can be attributed to the average family sizes of the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck. Hamtramck was the municipality with the largest average family size in the region at 4.26. The city of Detroit had an average family size of 3.71. These family sizes can be linked to the high birth rates in both communities. According to the Michigan Department of Community Healthy, Hamtramck’s birth rate in 2012 was 20 per 1,000 residents and Detroit’s was 14; the state’s was 11.4.
While the city of Hamtramck was the only municipality in the region to have an average family size above 4, there were several Census tracts at or above this threshold. For example, the east side of the city of Dearborn, along with several pockets in the city of Detroit. For example, the Campau Area District in Detroit had an average family size of 5.91.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, St. Clair County had the lowest average family size in the region at 3.04. While the city of Port Huron has a growing population (as we noted in this previous post), St. Clair County is much more rural that the inner tri-county area. Monroe County is also rural and had the second lowest family size in the region at 3.06.
In the tri-county region Lake Angelus, which is located in Oakland County, had the lowest average family size of 2.39. Lake Angelus is the state’s smallest incorporated city. Lake Angelus was one of nine municipalities in the Oakland County where the average family size was less than 2.5. Macomb County had five municipalities where the average family size was less than 2.5 and Wayne County had none.