Demographics
Ann Arbor Population (Census 2010): 113,934 (Southeast Michigan Council of Governements).
Ann Arbor “Metro” Area Population (Census 2010): 225,461 residents (Ann Arbor City – 4,067, Pittsfield Township - 34,663, Ypsilanti City – 19,435, Ypsilanti Township - 53,362)
College Students: 64,674 = 41,674 (Fall 2009 Enrollment at U of M) + 23,000 (Fall 2009 Enrollment at Eastern Michigan University)
Religious Affiliation
7.8% Evangelical Protestant (Washtenaw County)
Sources
From the Downtown District Authority and the City of Ann Arbor. I’ve edited the list to make it more accurate and readable.
2012 Rankings and Reports
- 4th “Most Well Read” City in America according to Amazon.com data
- #8 in The Atlantic’s Best Places for New College Grads in 2012
- #4 in Daily Beast’s list of 20 Most Creative US Cities
2011 Rankings and Reports
- Ann Arbor District Library has top circulation per capita in the country for libraries serving populations of 100,000 or more.
- One of Forbes’ Top 20 Geekiest Cities in America
- #2 on US News and World Report’s list of Most Educated U.S. Cities
- Smartest Big City in On Numbers’ analysis of educational attainment in 269 communities with more than 100,000 residents
2010 Rankings and Reports
- #14 Most Bike Friendly city from Bicycling.com
- #3 on The Daily Beast’s list of Best Cities for College Grads
- #50 on New Geography’s list of 2010 Best Medium Sized Cities for Job Growth
- #1 College Sports Town as ranked by Forbes
- #4 on Forbes list of America’s Most Livable Cities
- #4 on Parenting Magazine’s list of Best Cities for Families
- #49 on CNN Money’s list of America’s Best Small Cities
- #21 on Money Magazine list of Best places for the rich and single
- One of Kiplinger’s 10 Great Cities for Raising Families
- #2 College Destination City (small cities) from American Institute for Economic Research
- #4 Most Educated City in the United States
- #6 Best Digital City in the United States from e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities magazine
- #2 on Portfolio.com’s list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the strongest brainpower
- #4 Smartest College Town as ranked by The Daily Beast
2009 Rankings and Reports
- #34 in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
- Bon Apetit ranks Ann Arbor as the runner-up in America’s Foodiest Small Town rankings
- EPA names Ann Arbor to Top 20 On-site list, representing those partners generating and consuming the most green power on-site within the Green Power Partnership.
- The League of American Bicyclists Announced Ann Arbor as a “Spring 2009 Bicycle Friendly Community”
- Midwest Living Magazine ranked Ann Arbor as the “Third Best Midwest Food Town
- Forbes named Ann Arbor as the “Best College Sports Town”
- Business Week Magazine chose Ann Arbor as the “Best Place in Michigan to Raise your Kids”
- #65 in Forbes annual ranking of “Best Places for Business & Careers”
- #29 in U.S. News & World Report list of the nation’s best colleges
- #9 in American Style magazine list of America’s Top 10 Art Fairs and Festivals
- Home to #1 Municipal Golf Course (Leslie Park) in Michigan according to Golf Digest
- #5 in MSNBC’s list of America’s Best Midsize Metropolitan Areas
- One of Top 10 in U.S. News’ America’s Best Affordable Places to Retire
- South Main Street ranked as one of top 10 Great Streets in America by the American Planning Association
- #5 Digital City in 75,000 – 124,999 population category as ranked by Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities Magazine
- Most Pedestrian Friendly City in Michigan as ranked by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership.
- #2 Smartest College Town as ranked by The Daily Beast
2008 Rankings and Reports:
- AARP ranked Ann Arbor as the Nations healthiest hometown for retirement.
- Forbes 7th annual ranking of “Best Places for Business & Careers” named Ann Arbor 1st in the State of Michigan & 48th out of all the nations metro areas.
- US News listed the City of Ann Arbor as one of the top 10 “Brainiest Places to Retire.”
- Forbes.com has named the City of Ann Arbor #4 on its annual list of “The Smartest Cities in America.”
- Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association rated Ann Arbor as the third best walking city in America.
- #24 in Popular Science’s list of America’s 50 Greenest Cities
- Ann Arbor is the most kid and cost-friendly city in Michigan according to Businessweek.com
- CNNmoney.com named Ann Arbor #27 best city in America
- e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government & Digital Communities Magazine ranked Ann Arbor as a Top 10 Digital City in 2008 for its use of technology to create a seamless environment between local governments & citizens
- Oprah Winfrey included a brisket sandwich from Ann Arbor’s Zingerman’s Deli on her Top Sandwiches in America.
- Black Enterprise Magazine ranked Ann Arbor as the third “Best Place to Retire”
- Gaywired.com named Ann Arbor one of its “Top Five Suprisingly Gay-friendly Small Towns”
2007 Rankings and Reports:
- Ann Arbor’s own Main Street was voted “Best Main Street in Michigan” by the Automobile Club of Michigan
- Sperling’s BestPlaces ranked Ann Arbor as the 5th Best City to Live in the US
- Expansion Management magazine rated Ann Arbor is the #1 Knowledge Worker Metro in the Nation as well as one of the Top 10 Metros for College-Educated Workers
- Ann Arbor is 11th on Contry Home Magazine’s Greenest Places in America list
2006 Rankings and Reports:
- #3 on Forbes.com’s list of the Top Ten Smartest American Cities
- Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live list ranked Ann Arbor at 25th
- The City of Ann Arbor recieved a Promoting Active Communities Gold Award from the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports
- #3 in 75k t0 100k population category of Bicycling Magazine list of Top 21 Cities for Cyclists
2005 Rankings and Reports:
- Ann Arbor ranks 6th on Sperling’s BestPlaces due in part to the high per capita income, low unemployment rate, and well educated population.
- #2 city for healthy pregnancies according to Babyfit.com
- The Concoran Group, a leading east coast real estate firm, rated Ann Arbor as one of the Top 5 Cities to Retire
- Forbes.com ranked Ann Arbor 16th among The Best Places to Start a Business
2004 Rankings and Reports:
- In its April issue, Food & Wine Magazine named Zingerman’s Delicatessen to its list of the 25 best food markets in the world. San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers Market was the only other U.S. name on the list. The common factor – the high quality of their products.
- The U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks the University of Michigan as the second-highest ranked public university in the country, following University of California-Berkeley.
- Ann Arbor’s Huron High School is among top 100 public high school music programs in the country according to Grammy, the organization that awards recording artists.
- Sperling’s Best Places, rates Ann Arbor as the 8th best city for dating because it ranks high in dining out and scores in the 98th percentile for percentage of singles.
- Sperling’s Best Places also rated Ann Arbor as the 6th lowest stress city in America.
- The Ann Arbor area ranked as the 6th Best Place to Live according to Frommer’s travel guides
2003 Rankings and Reports:
- Money magazine rated Ann Arbor as one of the best cities to retire in 2003
2002 Rankings and Reports:
- The Media Audit ranked Ann Arbor third in the nation for Internet usage with 70.2 percent of its citizens saying they went online at least once a month. Washington, D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin tied for first with 73.4 percent.
- The University of Michigan was second in leading the nation’s top 100 research universities in Research and Development spending, according to the Science Foundation report. Private and public-sector investments at U-M totaled $509 million in 1999. This amount helped push the state’s spending to more than $18.7 billion, second only to California.
- Ladies Home Journal rated Ann Arbor its #3 city based on crime rate, lifestyle, public school quality, job opportunities, quality health and child care and the number of women in local government.
- AAA Michigan Living magazine readers voted Ann Arbor’s Main Street the “Best Main Street in the State”
2001 Rankings and Reports:
- Zero Population Growth, the environmental organization, gave Ann Arbor an A+, 13th out of 140 independent cities, for its kid-friendliness. The criteria included safety, unemployment rates, parks, air quality, class size and grades, population growth and good health care
- Ladies Home Journal rated Ann Arbor its #2 city based on crime rate, lifestyle, public school quality, job opportunities, quality health and child care and the number of women in local government.
- The January issue of ING (a financial services company) listed Ann Arbor as the 3rd best place to earn and save money (out of the largest 125 metro areas in the US).
- Ann Arbor was named the 10th Best College Town in the nation by the Princeton Review
- American Style magazine named Ann Arbor 22nd in the nation for Best Arts Destinations

