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Ray, MI

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.



Overview

Ray is a very small township located in the state of Michigan. With a population of 3,829 people and just one neighborhood, Ray is the 241st largest community in Michigan.

Ray real estate is some of the most expensive in Michigan, although Ray house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Occupations and Workforce

Unlike some townships, Ray isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Ray are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Ray is a township of managers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Ray who work in management occupations (20.88%), sales jobs (8.19%), and personal care services (7.71%).

Also of interest is that Ray has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 13.76% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

Ray is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The township’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Ray’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.

It is a fairly quiet township because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Ray has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Ray has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Ray than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Ray may be for you.

One downside of living in Ray, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.94 minutes every day commuting to work.

As is often the case in a small township, Ray doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Demographics

In terms of college education, Ray is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 20.84% of adults 25 and older in Ray have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Ray in 2022 was $50,215, which is wealthy relative to Michigan and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $200,860 for a family of four.

The people who call Ray home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ray residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ray include German, Italian, Polish, Greek, and Irish.

The most common language spoken in Ray is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Russian.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Ray, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

People

In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.

In addition, the neighborhood is a great option for families, as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's research on this neighborhood. The combination of top public schools, low crime rates, and owner-occupied single family homes, make this neighborhood among the top 8.3% of family-friendly neighborhoods in the state of Michigan. Many other families also live here, making it easy to socialize and develop a sense of community. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Greek and Belgian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 8.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 4.8% have Belgian ancestry.

is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak German/Yiddish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.1% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Ray are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 82.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the neighborhood, 45.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 24.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (19.2%), and 10.3% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 90.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include German/Yiddish and Spanish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the neighborhood in Ray, MI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (28.5%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (17.8%), and residents who report Polish roots (11.0%), and some of the residents are also of Greek ancestry (8.9%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (8.6%), among others.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (82.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.

Real Estate includes:
Average Home Values
Rental Market
Housing Market Details
Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
Income & Unemployment Rate
Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
Property Crime Comparison
Violent Crime Comparison
Schools include:
School Ratings
Schools In District
Public School Test Scores
School District Enrollment
Educational Expenditures

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