Kalamazoo is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Kalamazoo have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Kalamazoo’s economy is one such example of this.
Not only is Kalamazoo a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a decent-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Kalamazoo spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 19.08 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
The education level of Kalamazoo citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 37.19% of adults in Kalamazoo have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Kalamazoo in 2022 was $27,191, which is lower middle income relative to Michigan and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $108,764 for a family of four. However, Kalamazoo contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Kalamazoo is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Kalamazoo home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Kalamazoo residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Kalamazoo include German, English, Irish, Polish, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Kalamazoo is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
