Black River, Michigan.
Typical home $218,883 (+6.6% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$445 (+63%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $13,477 +7%
- $205,406$218,883 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $24,644 +13%
- $194,238$218,883 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Black River$1,149
- Michigan$1,384
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 29 years.
Typical home values in Black River, MI rose 6.6% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Black River, Alcona County, Michigan
The Census does not count Black River on its own, so the figures here are Alcona County's. Half the county's households earn more than $54,993 a year and half less; 12% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 90% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 10% are rented. Unemployment in Alcona County was 7.2% in August 2026, and the county had 2.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Alcona County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Black River is a town in Alcona County, on the Lake Huron side of northern Michigan. Across the county, most homes are lived in by their owners, and the population is older than in much of the country. Winters here are colder and snowier than in most of the country, while summers are mild and pleasant.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, or in manufacturing, transport, warehouses and utilities, and some work in shops. Unemployment has eased slightly over the past year, and the county has added a few more jobs. Fewer adults hold a four-year degree than in many parts of the country, and few people work from home, so most commutes are to a workplace nearby.
Things to do. Negwegon State Park and Michigan Islands Wilderness Area are both a short drive away, and each is a protected area for walking and quiet time outdoors. Sturgeon Point Park is also a short drive away, and the Black River runs in or beside town for riverside outings.
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- 5,305households
- 60.0median age
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 12%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 11%work from home
What people in Alcona County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Alcona County had 1,533 jobs in 2025, 2.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 26° and lows near 14°; warmest in August, with highs near 74° and lows near 58°. About 52 inches of snow and 29 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Harrisville 2NNE weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Alcona County
- Harvard Maintenance Inc of MichiganBuilding cleaning services, janitorial144
- Alcona CountyCounty commissioners114
- Alcona Community SchoolsSchool district98FTE
- Alcona Citizens for HealthFamily physicians' offices76
- Atrium CentersHomes for the elderly with nursing care36
- Eagle Ridge RanchGolf and country clubs31
- Alcona County Road CommissionSurfacing, highway, road, street, bridge or airport runway29
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 430 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Alcona County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Alcona County.
Black River home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Black River$218,883
- Michigan$263,760
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Black River5
Zip codes with a Black River address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Black River — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.