Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Adrian is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 611th of 697 graded towns in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: a typical home costs about $190K, 2.7 years of the Adrian area’s $71K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its police reported 95 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 85% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 11 places on the National Register. On walkability, just 54 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Its National Register listings include Gov. Charles Croswell House and Civil War Memorial.
Where Adrian beats most towns.
Gov. Charles Croswell House
Census counts: 2,219 in 1850, 20,645 in 2020. The archive holds 36 old photos and papers going back to 1853 and 2 maps from 1962 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Adrian is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Adrian, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Adrian.
Adrian is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings.
Reported crimes fell from 509 to 404 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Adrian, the rate of reported violence is 4.7 per 1,000 residents, above both the Michigan town median (1.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). The property offense rate for Adrian comes to 15.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Adrian | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Adrian Public Schools. The largest public high school is Adrian High School, with 804 students. The 5 public schools in Adrian teach 2,430 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springbrook Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 612 | C+ |
| Adrian High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 804 | C+ |
| JCLISD Academy A Regional Middle CollegeTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 46 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Against the 5,858 U.S. towns with household incomes like Adrian’s, it is less healthy than 61%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults in Adrian who have diabetes: 13%. In Adrian, just over one in ten adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, where Michigan’s towns sit at 6.5% and U.S. towns at 8.1%. Two figures for adults in the town: 29% have been diagnosed with depression, 42% have obesity.
| Adrian | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Adrian | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.5% | 10.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.7% | 6.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 21.1% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The biggest park or preserve is Island Park, at 21 acres. Count the trails in 12 parks and preserves and they come to 2.1 miles. The concentration of trails in Adrian is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Adrian | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riverside park | 0.5 mi | 20 |
| 2. Island Park | — | 21 |
| 3. Trestle Park | — | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2.7 years of the Adrian area’s $71K median household income, the typical home (about $190K) costs less against local pay than in 81% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
56% of Adrian households live in a home they own. Homes locally are typically worth about $190,000, up 4% in a year, 28% below the Michigan typical home. For Adrian, the rent at the middle of the market is $956 a month.
| Adrian | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $956 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adrian’s natural-hazard score from FEMA is 27 of 100. FEMA puts 47% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 19% to tornadoes. Since 1982, Adrian has seen 5 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect chilly winters and pleasant summers in Adrian. Summer afternoons peak near 84° in July, and January nights bottom out around 17°; snowfall runs to about 26 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In Adrian, about one in four working residents works in town. Employers in Adrian shed 1,520 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 9,050. A fifth of residents live below the poverty line in the town. For half of commuters, work is under 22 miles away.
| Adrian | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Adrian
About 13 of every 100 Adrian residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
2 colleges in town.
11 places in Adrian on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Adrian.
City in Michigan, United States
Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Lenawee County. The population was 20,645 at the 2020 census. Adrian lies in Michigan's 5th congressional district. The city has a significant student population, because it is home to Adrian College.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Adrian.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian | #611 | C− | B | C− | B− | C− |
| Adrian Township | #257 | B+ | B | A | B− | C− |
| Madison Township | #542 | C | B− | C+ | B+ | C− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Adrian grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #611 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
30 notable people were born here, including Christine Gregoire and Norman Bel Geddes.
