Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,258, settled in 1869.
Caro grades D overall, ranked 649th of 697 in Michigan, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $42K, and 29% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. 29% of residents live below the poverty line in Caro, against 8.9% in Michigan’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 33 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Caro has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Trinity Episcopal Church and Hotel Montague.
Where Caro beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Caro’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 Caro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,282 in 1880, 4,328 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1926 and 2 maps from 1963 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Caro, 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 Caro.
Caro trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Bay City and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Michigan (mostly inland flooding).
3,320 jobs are based in Caro, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
21% of Caro working residents work locally. Jobs based in Caro fell to 3,320 in 2021, 653 fewer than in 2011. The average trip to work in Caro is 19 minutes.
| Caro | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Caro Community Schools. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Caro High School, with 411 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| McComb Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 321 | – |
| Caro High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 411 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Against the 2,883 U.S. towns with household incomes like Caro’s, it is less healthy than 65%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
18% of adults report frequent physical distress in Caro. Caro beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 44% of adults have obesity in Caro.
| Caro | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Caro | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.8% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.2% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.4% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.8 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Chippewa Landing Park, at 30 acres.
| Caro | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chippewa Landing Park | 0.2 mi | 30 |
| 2. Bieth Memorial Park | — | 23 |
| 3. Northwood Heights Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Caro’s violent crime rate is 5.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Caro | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Homes are within reach (about $182K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles.
The typical Caro home is worth about $182,000, up 4.7% in a year, 31% below the Michigan typical home.
| Caro | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $753 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Michigan towns; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Caro has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 42 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Caro; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Caro residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
4 places in Caro on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Caro.
City in Michigan, United States
Caro is a city in and the county seat of Tuscola County, Michigan, United States. The population was 4,328 at the 2020 census and 4,145 at the 2000 census (an increase of 4.4%). Caro is located northeast of Flint and east of Saginaw in Michigan's Upper Thumb region.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Caro.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caro | #649 | D | B+ | C− | B− | D |
| Almer Township | — | — | A | — | B− | D |
| Indianfields Township | — | — | B− | — | B− | D |
Almer Township and Indianfields Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Almer Township and Indianfields Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Caro with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Caro grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #649 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D for health, C− for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($63,811 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
6 notable people were born here, including Josh Asselin and Bessie Louise Pierce.
