Pearl BeachMI
4,506 people live in this town, settled in 1898.
Is Pearl Beach a good place to live?
Pearl Beach’s mean commuting time is 38 minutes, above both Michigan’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). St. John's Marsh State Wildlife Area, at 221 acres with 1.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. We don’t grade Pearl Beach yet; the figures below are still real.
Pearl Beach has grown 66% from 2010 to 2020
2,829 counted in 2010 and 4,698 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Moving to Pearl Beach: who provides what
Pearl Beach is unincorporated, so St. Clair County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Pearl Beach.
Pearl Beach has 0.3 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
Since 2011, Pearl Beach has lost 172 jobs, to 661 in 2021. Only 4% of working residents stay in Pearl Beach for work; the rest commute out. The top destinations are Detroit (6%), Clay Township (6%) and Chesterfield Township (5%). For half of commuters, work is under 24 miles away.
| Pearl Beach | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest natural risk in Pearl Beach is inland flooding, at a low overall level
Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 58% come from inland flooding and 22% from cold waves. Pearl Beach’s FEMA hazard score comes in at 33 of 100. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
How healthy Pearl Beach is
15% of adults report frequent physical distress in Pearl Beach. CDC measures, 32 in all: Pearl Beach beats Michigan on 7 and trails on 4. Two figures for adults here: 83% had a checkup this year, 15% binge drink.
| Pearl Beach | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Pearl Beach | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.6% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.3% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Pearl Beach keeps 6.1% of its land conserved
In Pearl Beach, the concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile. 2 parks and preserves cover 228 acres in the town.
| Pearl Beach | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.1% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. St. John's Marsh State Wildlife Area | 1.2 mi | 221 |
| 2. North Channel Boating Access Site | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A home in Pearl Beach sells for about $488K at the median
Homes sold in Pearl Beach spent a median 45 days on the market. The share of households in Pearl Beach who are owner-occupiers: 93%. Sellers in Pearl Beach got 97.8% of the asking price, typically.
| Pearl Beach | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,054 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Lake Saint Clair and 35 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pearl Beach. Close and well known come first.
13 mi LakeLake Saint Clair
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
31 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
31 mi TheatreFox Theatre
40 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
28 mi City parkBelle Isle ParkPhoto credits
Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Belle Isle Park: WMrapids, CC0
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Everything we know about Pearl Beach
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Pearl Beach; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Pearl Beach residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
96% of working residents leave Pearl Beach for work
Where Pearl Beach’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Pearl Beach
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Pearl Beach is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the CDP was 4,698 at the 2020 census. The community is located within Clay Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 577 ft
Pearl Beach’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Pearl Beach.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Algonac | #459 | C+ | B+ | — | B+ | D |
Algonac reports no FBI crime data of its own. Pearl Beach isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pearl Beach with a neighbor →
Questions about Pearl Beach
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pearl Beach, MI a good place to live?
We don’t grade Pearl Beach yet; the figures below are still real.