Benton TownshipEaton County, MI
A town of 2,776.
Is Benton Township a good place to live?
Benton Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 441st among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $97K. A typical home there costs about $275K, 3.8 years of the Lansing metro’s $73K median household income. The biggest park or preserve is Potterville State Game Area, at 431 acres. 4.9% of residents live below the poverty line in Benton Township, against 8.9% in Michigan’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
99% of working residents leave Benton Township for work
Where Benton Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Benton Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Benton Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Benton Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Benton 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 Benton Township.
Benton Township sends most of its workers to Lansing and beyond, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Most working residents commute out of Benton Township
Benton Township has 216 jobs for its 1,114 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Benton Township for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Benton Township fell to 216 in 2021, 69 fewer than in 2011. 16% of Benton Township workers work from home.
| Benton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 16% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $97,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.3% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Low risk in Benton Township, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Benton Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Benton Township has set aside 2.5% of its land for conservation
6.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Benton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fox Memorial Park | 6.1 mi | 159 |
| 2. Potterville State Game Area | — | 431 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Benton Township
Benton Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Benton Township is less healthy than 59% of U.S. towns
Against the 8,979 U.S. towns with household incomes like Benton Township’s, it is less healthy than 81%, so it trails even them.
Benton Township beats the Michigan average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 29% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Benton Township.
| Benton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Benton Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.4% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
An age mix much like Michigan’s
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Michigan average. 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Benton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 21% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.2 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Benton Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.1% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 28% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.3% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.5% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.7% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
North Country Trail and 16 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Benton Township. Close and well known come first.
34 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
17 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
14 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park Zoo
27 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic
14 mi MuseumR. E. Olds Transportation Museum
35 mi MuseumGilmore Car Museum87K visitors a yearPhoto credits
North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · American Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0 · R. E. Olds Transportation Museum: kennethaw88, CC BY 4.0 · Gilmore Car Museum: Kevin S. Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Benton Township
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Benton Township
About 3 of every 100 Benton Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Benton Township
Charter township in Michigan, United States
Benton Charter Township is a charter township of Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,766. When the township was organized in 1843, the Michigan State Legislature named it "Tom Benton", after Thomas Hart Benton, the notable U.S. Senator from Missouri. The name was changed to simply "Benton" in 1845.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 34 sq mi
- Elevation
- 879 ft
Benton Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Benton Township.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C+; Potterville (B−) is closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton Township | #441 | C+ | B− | — | B− | C+ |
| Potterville | #377 | B− | B− | B+ | C+ | C+ |
| Chester Township | — | — | B | — | B− | C+ |
| Oneida Township | #300 | B | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Eaton Township | #281 | B | A− | — | B− | C+ |
| Windsor Township | #351 | B | B− | — | B− | B− |
Chester Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Benton Township, Chester Township, Oneida Township, Eaton Township and Windsor Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Benton Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Benton Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Benton Township, MI a good place to live?
Benton Township grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #441 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools.
Is Benton 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−.