Is Chocolay Township a good place to live?
Chocolay Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 176th of 697 graded towns in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 80% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $247K, 3.8 years of the Marquette area’s $65K median household income. Chocolay Township’s July high is 75°F, against 82°F in Michigan’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Marquette Underwater Preserve, at 490 acres.
What makes Chocolay Township stand out
Where Chocolay Township beats most towns.
94% of working residents leave Chocolay Township for work
Where Chocolay Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Chocolay Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Chocolay Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Chocolay Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chocolay 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 Chocolay Township.
Chocolay Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and sees little violent crime, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
2.9% of Chocolay Township is conserved land
54 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in Chocolay Township is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Chocolay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (South) | 20.7 mi | 12,595 |
| 2. Beaver Grove Recreation Area | 0.8 mi | 22 |
| 3. Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve | 0.5 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Chocolay Township’s grade for schools is an A−
Its public schools are run by the Marquette Area Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Creek Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 430 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Chocolay Township’s grade for safety is an A−
Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Chocolay Township’s violent crime rate is 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Chocolay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.8 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
About half of Chocolay Township’s working residents commute to Marquette
Jobs based here fell from 1,932 in 2011 to 829.
Most working residents leave Chocolay Township for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Chocolay Township fell to 829 in 2021, 1,103 fewer than in 2011. The top destinations are Marquette (46%), Ishpeming (5%) and Forsyth Township (4%).
| Chocolay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.3% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In Chocolay Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
The Marquette weather station, 8 miles away, records that 102 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 75.2°, cooler than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 12.6°.
Chocolay Township has cold, snowy winters and cool summers.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Chocolay Township faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chocolay Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Residents of Chocolay Township are healthier than 60% of U.S. towns
Chocolay Township beats the Michigan average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of Chocolay Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Chocolay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Chocolay Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.9% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.1% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults getting cholesterol checked | 85.4% | 87.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Chocolay Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chocolay Township
About 7 of every 100 Chocolay Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Chocolay Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Chocolay Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolay Township | #176 | A− | B | A− | A− | B |
| Sands Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B− |
| Onota Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Harvey | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Branch Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B |
| Skandia Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sands Township and West Branch Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sands Township and West Branch Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Onota Township, Harvey and Skandia Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Chocolay Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Chocolay Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Chocolay Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Chocolay Township grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #176 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B for health, A− for safety and A− for schools.
Is Chocolay 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.