Central Lake, Michigan.
Typical home $343,505 (+4.9% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,066 (+145%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $16,065 +5%
- $327,439$343,505 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $58,050 +20%
- $285,454$343,505 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.
- Central Lake$1,803
- Michigan$1,384
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 19 years.
Typical home values in Central Lake, MI rose 4.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Central Lake, Antrim County, Michigan
Central Lake is a village of 960 people in Antrim County. Half its households earn more than $63,269 a year and half less, against $72,054 across Antrim County; 9% of its people live below the poverty line. 75% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 25% are rented. Unemployment in Antrim County was 4.5% in August 2026, and the county had 1.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then schools and health care.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Central Lake is a small village in Antrim County, home to a small community of residents. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and household incomes run below the county's. Winters are cold and very snowy, with highs near freezing in January, while July brings warm days, and precipitation is spread fairly evenly through the year.
Work. Residents work mainly in manufacturing, in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, and in restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Across Antrim County, some of the largest workplaces are Central Lake Public Schools, Burnette Foods and Anchor Lamina America. Jobs across the county have dipped a little over the past year, and unemployment is slightly lower than it was a year ago. Most people travel a moderate distance to work, and few work from home.
Things to do. Water is the main draw around Central Lake. Torch Lake and the Cedar River are both a short drive away, and the Jordan River is close by as well. For a longer outing, Fisherman's Island State Park is a protected area a longer drive away.
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- 392households
- 24%of adults have a degree
- 9%below the poverty line
- 25 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Antrim County had 5,061 jobs in 2025, 1.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 30° and lows near 15°; warmest in July, with highs near 83° and lows near 55°. About 122 inches of snow and 33 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the East Jordan weather station, 8 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Antrim County
- Elk Rapids SchoolsSchool district163FTE
- Anchor Lamina AmericaPlating metals and metal products for the trade145
- Mancelona Public SchoolsSchool district124FTE
- Short's Brewing Company Bellaire PubAle brewing92
- Central Lake Public SchoolsSchool district72FTE
- Burnette FoodsJuices, fruit or vegetable, fresh, manufacturing71
- King OrchardsFruit and tree nut combination farming60
- Short's Brewing CompanyAle brewing55
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 18 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 921 people in all across the county; Central Lake has none of its own. 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
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- LightningRelatively 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 Central Lake’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 Antrim County.
Central Lake home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Central Lake$343,505
- 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 5 Central Lake 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.
- Central Lake20.71%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Central Lake31
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Central Lake10
Zip codes with a Central Lake address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Central Lake — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.