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Midland County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Midland, MI

Buying or refinancing in Midland? One Michigan broker shops your loan across multiple wholesale lenders and checks the parcel first: the FEMA flood map, the taxing unit, and whether a Midland address is inside the city at all.

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Buying a home in Midland

Midland is the county seat of Midland County, home to about 42,800 residents in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate, where the Chippewa and Tittabawassee rivers meet. Midland is home to the headquarters of Dow, founded in the city by Herbert Henry Dow in 1897, and to Northwood University and the Midland Center for the Arts. Saginaw is about 24 miles southeast and Bay City about 19 miles east, and the median household income in Midland is near $73,300.

By the numbers

Midland housing and mortgage snapshot

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$204,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+33%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

1.60%

Property tax current owners pay, as a share of value. A buyer's bill can reset higher the year after a sale

2

Residential ZIP codes: 48640, 48642

What financing looks like in Midland

Redfin's Midland figures put the median sale near $257,000 for July through September 2026, about 3% higher than a year earlier, and the average listing sat about 20 days, up from 11. A loan that size is far below $832,750, the 2026 conforming limit, and below $541,287, the FHA ceiling for Midland County, so the program usually comes down to credit, cash on hand and the house itself. In Midland the house question is often water. If the home sits in FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Area, most mortgages require a flood policy, and the premium belongs in the payment from the first estimate. A National Flood Insurance Program policy written inside city limits gets FEMA's 25% community discount, and the townships around the city do not.

First-time buyers can pair a MSHDA MI Home Loan with MI 10K, which puts $10,000 toward the down payment and comes due only when you sell, refinance, pay off the loan or move out. Income limits apply, and the $566,355 price cap sits far above a typical Midland sale. With about half the city's homes built between 1950 and 1979, a renovation loan that folds a roof, windows or a furnace into the mortgage is worth pricing beside a standard purchase loan. On a house in the flood zone, the city limits repairs and improvements to half the building's market value before the work, so plan any big remodel with the Building Department before you commit to it.

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In Midland the price is rarely what decides the loan. The flood zone, the city line and the taxing unit on the parcel usually do.

The market

The Midland housing market

The typical home value in Midland is near $203,900, the median for owner-occupied homes in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which counts about 12,400 owner-occupied homes here. The median year built is 1971, and Midland mixes established neighborhoods with newer subdivisions on the edges. Homeowners pay a median of about $3,260 a year in property taxes, an effective property tax rate of about 1.60% of the median value.

Where to look

Midland neighborhoods

Downtown and Ashman Street

City Hall on West Ellsworth Street and the blocks around Main and Ashman streets, close to where the Chippewa meets the Tittabawassee. Older than any other tract in Midland: its typical home dates from 1938, four in five homes are single-family and the owner median is near $136,000. The National Weather Service reports much of downtown was under water in May 2020.

Dow Gardens and Discovery Square

Dow Gardens, the Midland Center for the Arts, the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library and the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio on Post Street, a National Historic Landmark, with Emerson Park, MyMichigan Medical Center and Northwood University to the west. Owner values come in near $278,000 (a wide margin), and the typical home dates from 1960. More than half the tract's land is in FEMA's high-risk zone along the Tittabawassee, the Chippewa and Sturgeon Creek.

Manor Drive and Sugnet Road

North of downtown along Manor Drive, West Sugnet Road and Jefferson Avenue, where three of the 13 Alden B. Dow houses on the National Register stand, the F.W. Lewis House on Manor among them. About 99% of homes are single-family and about nine in ten are owner-occupied. Owner values near $194,000, typical home from 1956.

Eastlawn Drive and Jefferson Avenue

The east-central blocks around Midland High School on Eastlawn Drive, crossed by Jefferson Avenue, South Saginaw Road and Washington Street. Close to half the homes sit in apartment buildings of five units or more, and renters outnumber owners about five to three. Owner values near $113,000, homes typically from 1964, and the flood map we sampled shows no high-risk zone in this tract.

Bay City Road and the south side

The south and southeast side along Bay City Road and Waldo Avenue, beside Dow's Michigan Operations site, with the city's water reclamation plant and Optimist Park. The tract covers about a fifth of the city's land and holds 217 mobile homes. Owner values near $86,000, typical home from 1969.

East Ashman Street and Stratford Woods

The east side along East Ashman Street and Swede Avenue, out to Stratford Woods Park and the sandy beach on its small Kiwassee Lake, with the Global Dow Center on H.H. Dow Way. Renters slightly outnumber owners, and close to two in five homes are in complexes of five units or more. Owner values near $169,000, typical home from 1973.

Plymouth Park and Wheeler Street

The blocks around Plymouth Park, the city's 40-acre park on East Wheeler Street with the community-built Fun Zone playground and an outdoor pool. Nearly every home is single-family, owners outnumber renters about seven to one, and none of the tract's land fell in FEMA's high-risk zone in our sample. Owner values near $200,000, homes typically from 1965.

Eastman Avenue and Midland Mall

The Eastman Avenue corridor up to Midland Mall, built on the city's north boundary near the US-10 interchange in the early 1990s. A newer part of the city: the typical home dates from 1981, about six in seven are single-family houses, with owner values near $230,000. A strip along Sturgeon Creek is in the high-risk flood zone.

Wackerly Street and the northeast edge

The north side along East Wackerly Street, where the typical home dates from 1983, about 85% of homes are single-family and owner values sit near $264,000, with no high-risk flood zone in our sample. Farther out, the city's northeast edge shares a Census tract with Larkin Charter Township, which holds most of that tract's homes.

Perrine Road and Moorland Drive

The northwest blocks along Perrine Road, Moorland Drive and Sturgeon Avenue, a mix of houses and apartments with about a third of its homes in larger apartment buildings. Owner values near $269,000, typical home from 1978. Sturgeon Creek puts about an eighth of the tract's land in the high-risk zone, and the city's footing drain disconnection program covers part of the Moorland neighborhood.

The northwest and west edges

The city's newest streets, off North Saginaw Road west of Dow High School and along the northwest edge. Their Census tracts reach well into Lincoln, Larkin and Homer townships, so the closest figures come from block groups that straddle the city line: typical homes from 1999 and 2004 and owner values near $276,000 and $370,000, each with a wide margin. Parts of the west edge lie in the Tittabawassee flood zone.

The Bay County corner

A small piece of the city crosses into Bay County along Fisher Road by US-10 on the east edge. It holds about 1% of the city's land and, at the 2020 Census, 72 homes. It is taxed through Bay County and served by Bay City Public Schools, and its 2025 homestead rate was 44.91 mills, about 5.4 mills above the rest of the city.

Flood history

Living beside the Tittabawassee

The Chippewa joins the Tittabawassee at downtown, and Sturgeon Creek runs in from the north. Since 2020 the dams, the sewers and the flood plans have all changed. The federal flood map has not.

May 19 and 20, 2020

Heavy rain and the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams upstream sent the Tittabawassee to about 35 feet at Midland on May 20, more than a foot above its 1986 record. The National Weather Service reports up to 10,000 people evacuated, and FEMA declared a major disaster for the storms and flooding (DR-4547) that July.

A flood map from 2009

The FEMA map in effect for Midland County took effect May 4, 2009, with one revision in 2014, and FEMA shows no new map in progress for the city. It was drawn before the 2017 and 2020 floods, so a house just outside the mapped zone is still worth a flood insurance quote.

25% off flood policies in the city

FEMA's October 2026 list places the City of Midland in Class 5 of its Community Rating System, which takes 25% off National Flood Insurance Program premiums on policies in the city. None of the neighboring townships appears on that list.

The rebuilt dams

Sanford Lake refilled in spring 2026, and the Four Lakes Task Force expects the Edenville Dam to be substantially complete in September 2027, with Wixom Lake refilling in April 2028. The task force runs the dams as run-of-river dams and says they are not built for flood control.

The Army Corps plan

At an August 5, 2026 open house the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed its tentatively selected plan: a floodgate and pump station at Sturgeon Creek near Main Street and the Tittabawassee, with floodwalls and berms, plus voluntary flood-proofing for eligible homes at no cost to the owner. It is still a draft plan.

Concept 5 and basement backups

The city's $48 million Concept 5 sewer program, approved in March 2021, is sized for a 25-year, 24-hour storm and aims to cut basement backups, with footing drain disconnection in the Moorland and Whitewood neighborhoods. The city says it will not stop overland flooding and tells owners to make sure their homeowners insurance covers sewer backups.

Schools and commute

Schools

All but about 1 in 50 acres of the city's land is in Midland Public Schools, along with all but 72 of the city's roughly 19,400 homes at the 2020 Census. The district counts more than 7,400 students at 12 locations and reaches past the city into Midland, Larkin, Homer, Lincoln, Ingersoll and Mills townships. Two districts take the edges: Bullock Creek School District holds about 1% of the city's land, a riverside strip on the south edge where the Census counted no homes, and Bay City Public Schools serves the small Bay County part. Outside the city the mix shifts, and nearly a quarter of the homes with a 48640 address are in Bullock Creek. On November 3, 2026, voters in Midland Public Schools decide a 1.5-mill, 10-year sinking fund for building repairs and security upgrades, which would add about $150 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value if it passes. The parcel, not the ZIP code, tells you which district taxes a home.

Commute

US-10 runs as a freeway along the north edge of the city, toward Bay City in the east and Clare to the northwest, Business US-10 loops through downtown, and M-20 heads west to Mount Pleasant. From City Hall on West Ellsworth Street, MBS International Airport near Freeland is about 13 miles, roughly 18 minutes outside rush hour. Downtown Bay City is about 19 miles (24 minutes), Saginaw Valley State University about 22 (27), downtown Saginaw about 26 (32) and Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant about 28 (42). The area's major employers are closer: the city's 2025 financial report lists Dow (4,800 jobs across the Great Lakes Bay Region), MyMichigan Health (4,607), Midland Public Schools (886), DuPont (736), Greater Midland (682) and Corteva Agriscience (550) among its principal employers, and both the Global Dow Center and MyMichigan Medical Center on Wellness Drive are about 3 miles from City Hall. In Census data, Midland workers average about a 20-minute trip to work and about one in eight work from home (Census Reporter).

Michigan property taxes

Midland property taxes after you buy

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In the City of Midland, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 33% the year after a sale. On a $200,000 home, near the typical Midland value, that is roughly $1,030 more in first-year tax at the local median homestead millage. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Midland address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

Don't build your budget around somebody else's tax bill. The seller's tax history tells us something about the property. It does not automatically tell us what your taxes are going to look like as the new owner.

2025 tax rates

City or township, the rate changes at the line

Midland Public Schools reaches well past the city, so the same district sits under very different totals. Rates are Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals, and our 2026 Uncapping Study supplies each jump at sale. One mill is a dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable value.

City of Midland: 39.48 mills

Nearly every home in the city, in Midland Public Schools. The city's own levy is 15.14 mills (12.17 for operations, 1.00 for the library, 0.42 for storm water and 1.55 for a pension levy), and the city adds a 1% administration fee to the tax. Taxable value typically rises about 33% the year after a sale.

The Bay County corner: 44.91 mills

The city's piece of Bay County by US-10, in Bay City Public Schools. About 5.4 mills above the rest of the city, roughly $543 a year on $100,000 of taxable value, with a jump at sale near 31%.

Bullock Creek part of the city: 43.58 mills

A riverside strip on the south edge where the 2020 Census counted no homes. About 4.1 mills above the Midland Public Schools part of the city.

Larkin Charter Township: 26.34 mills

Midland Public Schools to the north and east, home to many 48642 addresses. About $1,314 a year less than the city on $100,000 of taxable value, with township services in place of city ones, and a jump at sale near 25%.

Midland Charter Township: 28.34 or 32.44 mills

South of the city, split between Midland Public Schools and Bullock Creek, with many 48640 addresses. The jump at sale runs near 29%.

A rental or second home in the city: 57.08 mills

The non-homestead total in Midland Public Schools, about 17.6 mills more than a residence pays. A buyer who moves in files the principal residence exemption, by June 1 for the summer bill or November 1 for the winter bill.

Local resources

Check Midland records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

Due diligence

Seven things to check on a Midland house

Each one is easier to sort out during the inspection period than after closing.

  • City or township. About a third of the homes with a Midland ZIP code sit outside the city, and the parcel record names the unit that taxes the home. The city's urban growth area policy explains why city water reaches some township streets and not others, which matters here because the area's groundwater is brackish. A house on a well or septic system falls under the county's Environmental Health division.
  • The flood zone. Pull the address up in FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, then ask the city's Planning Department, which keeps the flood maps and can tell you whether a lot is in a Special Flood Hazard Area. The city's floodplain page explains the permit limits that come with that zone.
  • Flood history and federal aid. Ask the seller in writing whether the house took water in 2017 or 2020 and whether it received federal flood disaster aid. Federal law requires the seller of such a property to tell the buyer in writing about the duty to carry flood insurance.
  • Sewer backups. Find out whether the street is part of the Concept 5 sewer work or a footing drain disconnection area, and price a sewer backup rider with the homeowners policy.
  • Soil records. From 2012 through 2016, under state oversight, Dow removed and replaced the upper 12 inches of soil on more than 1,700 Midland properties where dioxins exceeded residential cleanup criteria, and it still monitors the cleanup area. EGLE's corrective action page describes the program, and its annual reports are available on request.
  • Historic rules. Exterior work in the West Main Street Historic District needs approval before it starts. A rental anywhere in the city needs rental certification first.
  • Tax dates. City summer taxes are due September 15 and winter taxes February 14, per the city's tax calendar, and an escrow account can pay both. In the Bay County corner, the county record sits with Bay County Equalization.

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Midland mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

What is a typical Midland sale price in 2026?

About $257,000 at the median for July through September 2026, by Redfin’s count, roughly 3% above a year earlier, with 93 sales in September alone. The 48640 ZIP code ran near $252,000 and 48642 near $260,000. Redfin’s Midland sales list includes some homes in Larkin Charter Township, so read it as the Midland mailing area rather than the city. The Census figure of $203,900 measures something else: what owners estimated their homes were worth from 2020 to 2024.

No. At the 2020 Census about a third of the homes with a 48640 or 48642 address sat outside the city, most of them in Larkin, Homer, Lee or Midland townships, with others in Lincoln, Mills, Ingersoll and Mount Haley and, across the county line, Williams and Beaver townships in Bay County. The tax rate changes at the line: in 2025 a homestead in the city’s Midland Public Schools area paid 39.48 mills, against 26.34 in Larkin Charter Township and 28.34 in Midland Charter Township. The city’s own 15.14 mills pay for city operations, the library, storm water and a city pension levy, services a township funds its own way. We check the parcel before we build your payment.

Only in the mapped high-risk zone, but that zone is large here. Leaving out open water, our sample of FEMA’s map puts about 16% of the city’s land in it, about half along the Tittabawassee, a quarter along the Chippewa and close to a fifth along Sturgeon Creek, and roughly 6% of the city’s homes sit on Census blocks centered inside it. The map in effect dates to May 2009, before the 2017 and 2020 floods. Inside the zone most mortgages require a flood policy, and a National Flood Insurance Program policy written in the city gets a 25% discount from FEMA.

Yes. On the evening of May 19, 2020 the Edenville and Sanford dams upstream failed, and the next day the Tittabawassee at Midland peaked near 35 feet, more than a foot above its 1986 record, per the U.S. Geological Survey. The National Weather Service reports as many as 10,000 people evacuated and much of downtown under water. Ask whether the house took water, what was replaced, and whether it received federal flood aid, because for a home in the high-risk zone FEMA keeps the flood insurance requirement with the address after a sale.

Not a home inside the city. The Four Lakes Task Force district covers lakefront and backlot parcels on Sanford, Wixom, Smallwood and Secord lakes upstream, none of which touch the city, and the task force says owners outside the district get no assessment. Inside the district, the 40-year capital assessment for rebuilding the dams began on winter 2025 tax bills, estimated at $1,200 to $2,500 a year for about four in five residential parcels. Sanford Lake refilled in spring 2026, the Edenville Dam is due for substantial completion in September 2027, and the task force notes the rebuilt dams run as run-of-river dams, not flood control.

Inside the city, Midland Public Schools for nearly every home. The exceptions are a Bullock Creek strip on the south edge, where the 2020 Census counted no homes, and the Bay County corner in Bay City Public Schools, whose 2025 homestead total of 44.91 mills ran about $543 a year above the rest of the city on $100,000 of taxable value. Outside the city, nearly a quarter of the homes with a 48640 address are in Bullock Creek. Midland Public Schools also has a 1.5-mill sinking fund on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

Not until the city certifies it. Midland inspects every home, duplex, short-term rental and apartment the owner does not live in, even when no rent changes hands or the tenant is a relative, and a unit cannot be rented until it passes. Since July 1, 2025 the fee is $79 for the first unit and $36 for each additional one, and no more than four unrelated tenants may share a unit. A rental also loses the homestead rate: the city’s 2025 non-homestead total in Midland Public Schools was 57.08 mills, about $1,760 more per year on each $100,000 of taxable value than a residence pays.

It depends on which list the house is on. The National Register covers 13 Dow houses built in Midland from 1933 to 1938, and the National Park Service says a Register listing by itself places no federal limits on a private owner. The city’s West Main Street Historic District is different: there, exterior work beyond ordinary maintenance needs a certificate of appropriateness before it starts, reviewed by the district commission or the Building Official. Ask the city’s Planning Department which rules apply before you budget for a roof, windows or an addition.

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.

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