Community Profile
What sold, what is being built, and what the public record says about every city and township in Manistee County. Compiled from government sources and updated as they publish.
Manistee County closed 25 homes in July at an average of $300,768, averaging 64 days on market, with 136 listings active. Sold, price and days on market are July closings; active is the current count.
| Market | Homes Sold | Active Now | Avg Sold Price | Avg Days on Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee | 17 | 68 | $293,606 | 84 |
| Bear Lake | 4 | 15 | $214,225 | 17 |
| Brethren | 1 | 10 | $501,000 | 11 |
| Kaleva | 1 | 2 | $165,000 | 74 |
| Onekama | 1 | 11 | $775,000 | 29 |
| Wellston | 1 | 15 | $229,999 | 0 |
| Arcadia | 0 | 3 | $0 | 0 |
| Copemish | 0 | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Eastlake | 0 | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Thompsonville | 0 | 10 | $0 | 0 |
Where It Is Being Built
Permits pulled for new residential construction in 2025 across Manistee County total 260 units at $58,568,795 of construction value, more than in 2022. Where a community's units sit in the five-plus column, it is adding apartments and condominiums rather than subdivisions. The table lists the 3 busiest municipalities, which account for 260 of those units; the rest are spread across the remaining communities.
| Municipality | Single Family | 2 to 4 Units | 5+ Units | Total Units | Construction Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee township | 5 | 0 | 129 | 134 | $17,208,916 |
| Springdale township | 121 | 0 | 0 | 121 | $39,266,879 |
| Manistee | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | $2,093,000 |
Where Everything Is
Every city and township in the county. Click any one to open its own profile. Boundaries are the Census Bureau's own, so what you see here is exactly what the data above describes.
Every City and Township
All 21 municipalities in Manistee County, from the American Community Survey. Median home value here is what owners report their homes are worth across all housing, which runs lower than what changed hands last month. Names link to the municipality's own website where we could verify it.
| Municipality | Population | Median Income | Median Home Value | Owner Occupied | Median Year Built | Commute (min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee city | 6,275 | $59,315 | $144,400 | 73.5% | 1951 | 15.3 |
| Manistee township | 4,058 | $60,040 | $191,300 | 90.8% | 1972 | 16.0 |
| Filer charter township | 2,603 | $72,067 | $225,600 | 88.3% | 1974 | 18.2 |
| Norman township | 1,762 | $61,357 | $141,000 | 90.9% | 1979 | 24.8 |
| Bear Lake township | 1,672 | $70,298 | $200,300 | 93.4% | 1971 | 23.6 |
| Maple Grove township | 1,553 | $44,861 | $104,900 | 80.9% | 1976 | 23.7 |
| Onekama township | 1,408 | $71,118 | $271,600 | 86.2% | 1972 | 25.0 |
| Dickson township | 981 | $54,417 | $119,500 | 93.0% | 1977 | 27.3 |
| Cleon township | 947 | $48,056 | $177,900 | 94.1% | 1984 | 35.1 |
| Stronach township | 934 | $70,278 | $141,100 | 96.7% | 1973 | 22.5 |
| Pleasanton township | 804 | $67,031 | $224,500 | 97.6% | 1975 | 28.8 |
| Springdale township | 729 | $51,250 | $169,600 | 84.2% | 1985 | 31.2 |
| Brown township | 604 | $60,313 | $212,100 | 97.6% | 1973 | 31.0 |
| Kaleva | 520 | $43,333 | $88,500 | 79.2% | 1961 | 25.6 |
| Thompsonville | 508 | $62,083 | $100,700 | 70.6% | 1974 | 25.5 |
| Arcadia township | 490 | $83,864 | $221,000 | 95.6% | 1977 | 22.2 |
| Marilla township | 427 | $57,679 | $172,500 | 89.6% | 1975 | 47.0 |
| Wellston | 425 | $48,125 | $109,800 | 86.3% | 1960 | 16.3 |
| Brethren | 405 | $42,434 | $104,500 | 94.6% | 1975 | 24.1 |
| Eastlake | 304 | $50,139 | $117,900 | 96.1% | 1965 | 19.4 |
| Copemish | 279 | $48,333 | $78,500 | 92.9% | 1948 | 34.1 |
Worth Knowing
Sourced history and curiosities from this county. More at our Michigan facts page.
He began his acting career at Manistee's Ramsdell Theatre and returned twice in the 1990s to help raise money for its restoration. The theatre opened September 4, 1903, paid for by local attorney Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell. Source
Yes. Frustrated by a mill dam that flooded their fields, homesteaders spent weeks hand digging a trench between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan. Just after midnight on May 14, 1871 the water broke through, and because Portage Lake sat about twelve feet higher, the escaping flood tore out the channel Onekama still uses. Source
Lumbermen drilling near their sawmills in 1880 struck a deep brine deposit, and by the 1890s the Manistee and Ludington area was the largest salt producing region in Michigan. Morton Salt bought a Manistee plant in 1930 and still operates on the same site. Source
Where This Comes From
Population, income, home value, ownership, housing age and commute times come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey five-year estimates. New construction comes from the Census Building Permits Survey. Sold and active listing figures are Legacy's own read of the MLS for July 2026 closings, Legacy's read as of early August 2026. Local facts carry their own source link.
We do not publish crime statistics or school ratings. Those figures are reported by agency and district rather than by community, they lag by a year or more, and ranking communities on them is not something a brokerage should be doing. For public safety, the FBI publishes reported offenses by the agency that actually covers each community, and for schools the State of Michigan publishes district data directly. Both are linked below so you can read the primary source yourself.
This page is compiled from public government sources for general information only. Legacy Real Estate Partners does not verify, endorse, rank or interpret this data and makes no representation about the suitability of any community for any person. Every community we serve is presented using the same template and the same sources. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation.
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