Okemos ( ) is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in
Ingham County in the U.S. state of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. The population of the CDP was 25,121 at the
2020 census. Okemos is part of the urban area of
Lansing–East Lansing, and is located nearby the campus of
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
. Okemos is located mostly within
Meridian Charter Township, with a small portion extending south into
Alaiedon Township and east into
Williamstown Township.
Okemos contains its own post offices with the 48805 and 48864 ZIP Codes, as well as its own school district,
Okemos Public Schools, that also serves portions of the surrounding area.
History

Pioneer Freeman Bray platted the village in 1841, giving it the name of Hamilton. Residents called it Okemos, after chief
John Okemos ("Little Chief"), of the
Ojibway
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
(Chippewa) people. In 1859, the State legislature officially named the village "Okemos" in honor of the chief.
The
Red Cedar River, a tributary of the
Grand River, flows from east to west through Okemos.
Climate
This
climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Okemos has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 21,369 people, 8,824 households, and 5,416 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 9,384 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 76.5%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 14.4%
Asian, 5.1%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.3%
Native American, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.1% from
other races, and 2.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino residents of any race were 3.3% of the population.
There were 9,194 households, out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the CDP, 23.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 14.5% was from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.
The median income for an average household in the CDP was $62,810, and the median income for a family was $88,459 (These figures had risen to $75,736 and $101,903 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $60,601 versus $41,393 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $33,401. About 3.3% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 5.0% of those under age 18 and 0.5% of those age 65 or over.
In 2011, ''CNN Money'' Magazine rated Okemos as the 12th-best city to live in for "the rich and single".
Education

Most of Okemos is served by
Okemos Public Schools,
the district which operates
Okemos High School.
Portions of the district for Okemos Public Schools extends into
Alaiedon Township to the south,
Williamstown Township to the east, and
Haslett to the north.
[
]
Notable people
* Travis Bader, professional basketball player
* Bill Boyle, soccer player and coach
* Kim Chi, stage name of Sang-Young Shin, a Korean-American drag queen, artist
* Alma Cooper, Miss USA 2024
* Doc Corbin Dart, punk rock musician
* Curtis Cregan, singer and theater actor
* Monica Drake, author
* Cynthia Frelund, sports analyst and writer currently working for NFL Network
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...
* Lawrence Joseph Giacoletto, electrical engineer and inventor
* Madison Hubbell, 2018 US Olympic ice dancer
* James Hynes, novelist, born in Okemos in 1955
* Susan Jacoby, author, born and raised in Okemos
* Josh Meyers, comedian, ''Mad TV
''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...
'' cast member
*Seth Meyers
Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American comedian, television host, writer, actor, and producer. He hosts ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'', a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to hosting Late Night, he was a cast member on NBC's ...
, comedian, ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' attended Edgewood Elementary
*Taylor Moton
Taylor Moton (born August 18, 1994) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Western Michigan Broncos. He was selected by the Pan ...
, NFL player, attended Okemos Public Schools
*Tyler Oakley
Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist, author, television personality and Twitch streamer. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ rights, as well as social issues including ...
, YouTuber, blogger, and LGBT activist
*Larry Page
Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American businessman, computer engineer and computer scientist best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin.
Page was chief executive officer of Google from 1997 until August 2001 when ...
, co-founder of Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
, went to Montessori School in Okemos
* Heather Raffo, playwright, author of '' Nine Parts of Desire''
*John Bennett Ramsey
John Bennett Ramsey (born December 7, 1943) is an American businessman, author, and father of Killing of JonBenét Ramsey, JonBenét Ramsey, the victim of an unsolved homicide.
Early life and education
Ramsey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the ...
, father of JonBenét Ramsey, attended Okemos High School
* Andrew Robl, professional poker player
*Ben Schneider, founding member of the indie rock band Lord Huron
*Tom Welling
Thomas John Patrick Welling (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor, director, producer, podcaster, and model. He is best known for his role as Clark Kent in The WB (now The CW) superhero drama ''Smallville'' (2001–2011). He also co-starr ...
, actor, played Clark Kent
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
in television series ''Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...
''
Points of interest
* Goetsch–Winckler House. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and of the earlier examples of his " Usonian" houses.
*The Meridian Historical Village
*Meridian Farmers' Market
*Ferguson Park, along the Red Cedar River on Okemos Road, is thought to be the meeting place where Chief Okemos and the war chiefs held their powwows. The park is part of the oldest settlement in the area along the plank road between Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and the Capitol in Lansing.
*The Hamilton Building at 2160 Hamilton Road (near the Four Corners of Okemos), is the oldest commercial building in Okemos, and replaced the old Walker General Store, which was built in 1853. The Hamilton Building held its first ice cream social on June 11, 1904, and was built to house the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...
, a charity organization. The planks in the building are from the walnut grove on which it sits. Along with Ferguson Park, it is also part of the oldest settlement in the area along the old plank road between Detroit and the Capitol in Lansing.
*Meridian Mall
Meridian Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Okemos, Meridian Township, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, United States.
It opened in 1969, the same year as its main competitor, Lansing Mall, on the other end of the Lansing metro ...
*The Hope Borbas Okemos branch of the Capital Area District Library
References
External links
Okemos Public Schools
Meridian Mall
{{authority control
Census-designated places in Michigan
Unincorporated communities in Ingham County, Michigan
Lansing–East Lansing metropolitan area
Populated places established in 1839
Unincorporated communities in Michigan
Census-designated places in Ingham County, Michigan
1839 establishments in Michigan