Buchanan, Michigan.
Typical home $234,586 (+6.4% in a year). Niles, MI metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$704 (+134%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $14,199 +6%
- $220,387$234,586 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $50,476 +27%
- $184,110$234,586 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.
- Buchanan$1,231
- Michigan$1,384
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 14 years.
Typical home values in Buchanan, MI rose 6.4% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Buchanan, Berrien County, Michigan
Buchanan is a city of 4,300 people in Berrien County. Half its households earn more than $56,163 a year and half less, against $65,425 across Berrien County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. Unemployment in Berrien County was 4.8% in August 2026, and the county had about as many jobs in 2025 as the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Buchanan is a small city in Berrien County, in the southwest corner of Michigan. Household incomes here run below the county's, and a smaller share of adults hold a four-year degree than is typical. Homes cost less than in many parts of the country. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers turn warm, with July the warmest, and rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in manufacturing, in shops, in schools, hospitals and social care, or in restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Buchanan Community Schools and Elevate Engineering are among the largest workplaces in town, along with RXO Express. The typical commute is short, and few people work from home. Unemployment across Berrien County has eased a little since last year, though the number of jobs has been about level.
Things to do. Clear Lake and McCoy Creek are in or beside town, and Yellow Lake is a short drive away. A short drive also brings you to Fort St. Joseph, a historic fort site. For a longer outing, Warren Dunes State Park is a protected area a longer drive away.
Report a mistake
- 1,752households
- 13%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 19 mintypical commute
- 4%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Berrien County had 60,632 jobs in 2025, about as many as the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 33° and lows near 19°; warmest in July, with highs near 83° and lows near 61°. About 62 inches of snow and 42 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Niles weather station, 5 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Buchanan
- Buchanan Community SchoolsSchool district199FTE
- C3 IndustriesCannabidiol retailers43
- RXO, IncGeneral freight trucking, long-distance, truckload43
- American Electric Power30
- Elevate EngineeringSkids, metal, manufacturing29
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 4 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 145 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
- Strong windRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- HailRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Buchanan’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively 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 Berrien County and the Niles, MI metro.
Buchanan home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Buchanan$234,586
- Michigan$263,760
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Buchanan listings — the market is roughly in balance.
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
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Buchanan26.58%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Buchanan36
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Buchanan13
Zip codes with a Buchanan address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Buchanan — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.