Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,895.
The best of Charleston Township’s subject grades are an A− for history and the outdoors; the weakest is a D for walkability. Charleston Township’s average trip to work is 20 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Charleston Township’s trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Michigan’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Fort Custer Recreation Area, 2,893 acres with 46.5 miles of trail. Charleston Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Charleston Township beats most towns.
Where Charleston 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 Charleston Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1928 and 7 maps from 1918 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Charleston 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 Charleston Township.
Most working residents leave Charleston Township for work: only 2% work in town. 4.5% of Charleston Township workers work from home. Jobs based in Charleston Township grew to 1,939 in 2021, 231 more than in 2011.
| Charleston Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.5% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| GalesburgAugusta High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 263 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Charleston Township beats the Michigan average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 27% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Charleston Township.
| Charleston Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Charleston Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.1% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.9% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Charleston Township since 2008.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (19% statewide). 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Charleston Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.7 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.7 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Charleston Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.8% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.2% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.3% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.2% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.3% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.9% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,900, single groups can be off by several points
Charleston Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 65 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Custer Recreation Area | 46.5 mi | 2,893 |
| 2. Augusta Floodplain Nature Preserve | 0.5 mi | 395 |
| 3. Cold Brook County Park | 0.1 mi | 271 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Charleston Township. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
11 mi MuseumGilmore Car Museum87K visitors a year10 mi Zoo & aquariumBinder Park Zoo
20 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic
12 mi MuseumKalamazoo Institute of Arts
8 mi MuseumKingman MuseumAir Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gilmore Car Museum: Kevin S. Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0 · American Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: 72elyod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kingman Museum: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
4 within 15 miles of the center of Charleston Township
About 5 of every 100 Charleston Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Charleston Township is a civil township of Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 census recorded a population of 1,904, slightly down from 1,975 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Charleston Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Ross Township | #78 | A | B | — | A− | A− |
| Galesburg | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | B |
| Climax Township | — | — | A− | — | C− | B− |
| Battle Creek | #684 | D− | B− | D− | C | D |
| Comstock Township | #493 | C+ | C+ | — | C | C+ |
| Augusta | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Charleston Township, Galesburg and Climax Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Charleston Township, Ross Township, Galesburg, Climax Township and Comstock Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Augusta isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Charleston Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
