Personal loans in Sterling, MI
Sterling is one of 533 Census places in Michigan; its 459 residents put it at 449th. From the 2020 Census base to the 2023 estimate, the population rose by about 0.7%. A personal loan in Sterling is priced from your credit file and income, not from the fact that the city holds 459 people. State law, not city hall, decides what a lender may do to Sterling's roughly 459 residents, and a state regulator supervises it. Get pre-qualified with several lenders, then compare APR rather than the headline rate for a Sterling loan. The closest larger city is Standish, MI about 5 miles away.
Sterling by the numbers
Read the local figures below as context; read the sourced Michigan table as the rulebook a lender here must follow.
- Population: a Census-estimated 459, 449th among Michigan's 533 places (Vintage 2023).
- Population trend: About 0.7% above the 2020 Census base.
- Net change: roughly 3 more people than the 2020 Census counted.
- Size percentile: Sterling sits ahead of around 16% of Michigan places, at 459 people.
- Population density: 470 people per square mile on 1.0 square miles of land.
- Land area: Sterling covers 1.0 square miles, the 434th-largest area among Michigan's 533 places.
- State share: roughly 0.0% of Michigan's residents live in Sterling (459 people).
- National rank: Sterling sits 13,526th by population among the 19,457 places in this dataset.
- Growth rank: Sterling's 2020-to-2023 change ranks 140th of 533 places in Michigan.
- Against the state trend: Sterling's 0.7% change compares with a Michigan average of -0.3% across its 533 places.
- Density rank: Sterling is the 452nd most densely settled place in Michigan.
- Against the state median: Sterling runs about 470 residents per square mile, where the Michigan median is 1,078.
- Location: latitude 44.0328, longitude -84.0186 (Census Gazetteer).
- Nearest larger cities: Standish (5 mi); Pinconning (12 mi); Au Gres (16 mi); West Branch (20 mi); Gladwin (24 mi). For most borrowers the comparison happens online, not at a branch.
- Smaller places nearby: Omer (8 mi); Twining (12 mi); Prescott (12 mi).
- Smaller neighbours: 9 places smaller than Sterling sit within 50 miles.
- At 100 miles: 161 larger Census places fall inside that radius.
The state rulebook for Sterling
For the roughly 459 residents of Sterling, the rules below are Michigan's own; each row carries its publisher and retrieval date.
| Rule | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State lending regulator | Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Source says: ""Department" means the department of insurance and financial services" | Michigan Legislature as of 2026-09-16 |
| Payday lending status | Legal and licensed — deferred presentment service transactions (2005 PA 244; MCL 487.2121 et seq.), licensed and regulated by DIFS Source says: "AN ACT to regulate the business of providing deferred presentment service transactions; to require the licensing of providers of deferred presentment service transactions" | Michigan Legislature as of 2026-09-16 |
| Small-loan / installment lender licensing | License required from the commissioner to make regulated loans (Regulatory Loan Act, MCL 493.1 et seq.) Source says: "a person shall not engage in the business of making loans of money ... without first obtaining a license from the commissioner" | Michigan Legislature as of 2026-09-16 |
The geography behind Sterling
Sterling's land area is roughly 1.0 square miles, and the Gazetteer records no significant water area within it. Spread across it are roughly 470 residents per square mile. The largest place in Michigan, Detroit, lies about 123 miles away. A 50-mile radius around Sterling takes in 33 places that are larger. By land area it ranks 434th of 533 Michigan places.
Borrowing reach in Sterling
At roughly 470 people per square mile, Sterling is lightly settled; 33 larger places lie within 50 miles. What is available to Sterling's 459 borrowers is set by Michigan licensing and your own credit, not by how many branches are nearby. For a larger market, the closest option is Standish, MI about 5 miles away.
Where Sterling sits in Michigan
Set beside Michigan's 533 places, Sterling ranks 449th by population and holds about 0.0% of the state total. On the 2020-to-2023 trend, Sterling stands 140th among Michigan's 533 places — roughly the 74th percentile. Its roughly 470 residents per square mile place it 452nd among Michigan's places. By land area, its 1.0 square miles rank 434th of 533 places in Michigan.
The Sterling borrowing checklist
For Sterling's roughly 459 residents, these are the steps that most influence the offer:
- Get your credit reports, dispute what is wrong, and only then start shopping.
- Price the payment first with our personal loan calculator before any lender quotes you.
- Shop at least three lenders and judge them on APR and total cost.
- Make sure the lender appears in the Michigan regulator's licence list.
- Choose a term you can live with; stretching it lowers the payment but raises total interest.
- Borrow only what the purpose requires, not the maximum you are offered.
- Be clear on what the loan is for and how it gets repaid.
None of these steps is Sterling-specific: the same Michigan licensing and disclosure rules reach all 459 residents.
Common questions
What are my options in Sterling if my credit is poor?
What loan size can I expect in Sterling?
Do I have to pledge anything to borrow in Sterling?
Does comparing loans in Sterling cost me credit score points?
Nearby places
- Standish, MI — population 1,457
- Omer, MI — population 283
- Prescott, MI — population 228
- Pinconning, MI — population 1,184
- Twining, MI — population 140
- Turner, MI — population 120
- Whittemore, MI — population 418
- West Branch, MI — population 2,358