Arbela TownshipMI
A town of 2,770, settled in 1871.
Is Arbela Township a good place to live?
Arbela Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $150K, 2.4 years of the county’s $64K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 575th of 697 in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 77% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Arbela Township’s typical journey to work is 36 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. On hazard risk, just 123 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
99% of working residents leave Arbela Township for work
Where Arbela Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Arbela Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Arbela Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Arbela Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Arbela Township, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Arbela Township.
For health, Arbela Township earns a C−
16% of adults in Arbela Township report frequent physical distress; 28% have been diagnosed with depression. For adults locally, the share who smoke cigarettes is 18%.
| Arbela Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Arbela Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.2% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 17.5% | 14.6% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.3% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Arbela Township sends most of its workers out of town
Arbela Township has 55 jobs for its 895 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 36.2 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
13% of Arbela Township residents live below the poverty line. Commuting out is the norm locally: 1% of working residents work locally. Also worth knowing: its middle household income comes in at $65,000. Employers in Arbela Township shed 24 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 55.
| Arbela Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.1% | 10% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The climate in Arbela Township brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
A winter brings about 49 inches of snow, with January nights at 16° and July afternoons at 83°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1.3% of Arbela Township is conserved land
In Arbela Township, the density of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. 2.4 miles of trail.
| Arbela Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Natural hazards: moderate risk in Arbela Township, mostly inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Arbela Township, 50% come from inland flooding and 23% from cold waves.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
USS Edson and 14 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arbela Township. Close and well known come first.
27 mi MuseumUSS Edson
17 mi MuseumSloan Museum12 mi MuseumCrossroads Village (Michigan)
39 mi GardenDow Gardens
17 mi MuseumFlint Institute of Arts
27 mi MuseumSaginaw Valley Naval Ship MuseumPhoto credits
USS Edson: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dow Gardens: Chris.Schiemann, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flint Institute of Arts: Blueskiesfalling at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum: John McCullough, CC BY-SA 2.5
_underway_off_Long_Beach,_California_(USA),_circa_in_the_mid-1960s.jpg){kind=link}
Everything we know about Arbela Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Arbela Township; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Arbela Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Arbela Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Arbela Township is a civil township of Tuscola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,808 at the 2020 Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 34 sq mi
- Elevation
- 689 ft
Arbela Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Arbela Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbela Township | #575 | C− | B | — | B | C− |
| Thetford Township | #659 | D | B | — | C | C− |
| Tuscola Township | — | — | B+ | — | A− | C |
| Millington Township | #473 | C+ | A− | — | B | C− |
| Birch Run Township | #358 | B− | B− | — | A− | B− |
Tuscola Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Arbela Township, Thetford Township, Tuscola Township, Millington Township and Birch Run Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Arbela Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Arbela Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Arbela Township, MI a good place to live?
Arbela Township grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #575 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Arbela Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.