Sterling Heights

Population & Demographics

Sterling Heights, MI

Sterling Heights is home to 133,573 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 55,116 resident workers commute each day.

MichiganCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2021
Based on 2021 Census LODES data — the most recent available for Michigan.
133,573
people
Population

133,573 residents

Median age 41.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Sterling Heights population & demographics

Who lives in Sterling Heights — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
133,573
Median age
41.7yrs
Median household income
$79,909
Median home value
$274,300
Median gross rent
$1,292/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
31.1%
Poverty rate
11.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Sterling Heights

How Sterling Heights breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White76.2%
Asian9.2%
Black7.4%
Two or more races3.5%
Hispanic or Latino3.0%
Some other race0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%

Race across Sterling Heights

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Sterling Heights.

Sterling Heights at a glance
Employed Residents
55,116
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
8.8mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
12.2%
Share working within the area
Work from home
15.7%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Troy
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Sterling Heights proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Sterling Heights commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

58
Commute Score

58 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Sterling Heights

55,116 commutes, one dot at a time

Sterling Heights

Where 55,116 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Sterling Heights, by worker count.

1Sterling Heights0.0 mi6,732
2Troy6.1 mi5,889
3Warren6.4 mi5,259
4Detroit14.0 mi4,652
5Auburn Hills12.3 mi2,090
6Southfield13.2 mi1,955
7Madison Heights6.9 mi1,454
8Rochester Hills8.6 mi1,330

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Sterling Heights.

1Sterling Heights0.0 mi6,732
2Warren6.4 mi3,441
3Detroit14.0 mi3,021
4Troy6.1 mi1,376
5Rochester Hills8.6 mi1,262
6St. Clair Shores9.2 mi1,127
7Roseville7.1 mi1,103
8Royal Oak8.3 mi733

Top industries

The sectors that employ Sterling Heights’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
MFManufacturing26.7%
RTRetail Trade11.2%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance10.1%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services7.7%
EDEducational Services6.8%
COConstruction6.8%
AFAccommodation and Food Services6.3%
WSWholesale Trade5.4%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services4.3%
Connectivity

Internet options for Sterling Heights

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

3 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps97%
5 Gbps46%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Sterling Heights

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).