Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Buchanan Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 406th of 697 graded towns in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 75% of Michigan towns. A typical home there costs about $194K, 3 years of the Niles metro’s $65K median household income. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Buchanan Township’s median age is 51.8 years, above both the Michigan town median (42.5 years) and the median of U.S. towns (40.5 years). The biggest park or preserve is Boyle Lake State Wildlife Area, at 146 acres.
Where Buchanan Township beats most towns.
Where Buchanan Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Buchanan Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,702 in 1870, 4,300 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 4 maps from 1927 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Buchanan Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
28 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
13 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
7 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
11 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
14 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumNotre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort St. Joseph: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Warren Dunes State Park: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Studebaker National Museum: Unknown, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Buchanan 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Buchanan Township.
21% of working residents cross a state line to work, Mishawaka among the top destinations. Buchanan Township has 196 jobs for its 1,413 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Buchanan Township for work: only 4% work in town. Since 2011, Buchanan Township has lost 196 jobs, to 196 in 2021. 5.1% of Buchanan Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Buchanan Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.1% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
8.0 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves.
| Buchanan Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fernwood Botanical Gardens | 3.5 mi | 106 |
| 2. Myron Perlman Nature Preserve | 1.3 mi | 44 |
| 3. Tallgrass Prairie | 0.7 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide). 16% of residents are under 18 in Buchanan Township. 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Buchanan Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 26% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Buchanan Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.5% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 6.5% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.6% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.5% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.5% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.6% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.5% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,500, single groups can be off by several points
Buchanan Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 63 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Buchanan Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Buchanan Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Buchanan Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 2018, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Buchanan Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5 within 15 miles of the center of Buchanan Township
About 3 of every 100 Buchanan Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Buchanan is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,300 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the southeast corner of Buchanan Township, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Niles.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Buchanan Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan Township | #406 | B− | B | — | A− | C+ |
| Oronoko Township | #523 | C | B− | — | C− | B |
| Bertrand Township | #335 | B | B− | — | A− | C |
| Niles Township | #505 | C+ | B | — | B | C |
| Weesaw Township | — | — | B | — | B+ | C+ |
Weesaw Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Buchanan Township, Oronoko Township, Bertrand Township, Niles Township and Weesaw Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Buchanan Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Buchanan Township grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #406 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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