AdvanceMI
A town of 377, settled in 1865.
Is Advance a good place to live?
37% of residents are 65 or older in Advance, where Michigan’s towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 18%. No town among the 702 in Michigan we compare has a higher median age than Advance. Whiting Park, at 70 acres with 1.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Advance has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
377 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Advance: who provides what
Advance is unincorporated, so Charlevoix 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 Advance.
In Advance, the FEMA risk score runs lower than in the typical Michigan or U.S. town
Advance’s FEMA risk score is 3 of 100, below both Michigan’s towns (25 of 100) and U.S. towns (44 of 100).
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Advance has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Advance for work: only 1% work in town. The average trip to work in Advance is 18 minutes. The top destinations are Boyne City (14%), Charlevoix (12%) and Petoskey (9%).
| Advance | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $110,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.4% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Advance has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Advance has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Advance’s July high is 80°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Compared with most of Michigan and the rest of the country, fewer of Advance’s adults report frequent mental distress
12% of Advance adults report frequent mental distress. Only 3 of the 702 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Advance. 15% of Advance adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Advance | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 86% | 80% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Advance | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 4.6% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3.4% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 15.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Advance | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Whiting Park | 1.7 mi | 70 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Advance
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Advance
About 0 of every 100 Advance residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
99% of working residents leave Advance for work
Where Advance’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Advance
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Advance is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the CDP was 340 at the 2020 census. The community is located along Lake Charlevoix within Eveline Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 598 ft
- Area code
- 231
Questions about Advance
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Advance, MI a good place to live?
Advance has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.