Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,336, settled in 1877.
The best of Clam Lake Township’s subject grades is an A for civic life; the weakest is a C for walkability. William Mitchell State Park, at 163 acres with 2.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Clam Lake Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Clam Lake Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Mackinaw Trail Middle School | 6–8 | 683 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Clam Lake Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,213 in 1880, 10,371 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Clam Lake 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 Clam Lake Township.
Clam Lake Township’s FEMA risk score is 4 of 100, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. FEMA puts 51% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 24% to cold waves. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools: the Cadillac Area Public Schools. Its one school is below. Clam Lake Township’s only public school teaches 683 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mackinaw Trail Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 683 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
In Clam Lake Township, the median age is 48.8 years. Adults 18 to 34 are one in ten residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 26% of residents (19% statewide). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 29%, against 32% across Michigan.
| Clam Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 48.8 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.7 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Clam Lake Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.7% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.2% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.8% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.3% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.1% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.7% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,300, single groups can be off by several points
Among adults in Clam Lake Township, 18% report frequent mental distress. Nearly two in five adults in the town have high blood pressure; 16% report frequent physical distress.
| Clam Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Clam Lake Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.1% | 8.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.3% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The midsummer high for Clam Lake Township comes to 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most people who work leave Clam Lake Township to do it: just 3% work in town. Employers in Clam Lake Township added 358 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 684. Its average commute is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Cadillac (37%), Haring Township (11%) and Traverse City (5%).
| Clam Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Trails total 6.7 miles in 4 parks and preserves. Clam Lake Township’s trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile, near both the Michigan town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Clam Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.9% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. William Mitchell State Park | 2.2 mi | 163 |
| 2. Waldeck Island Nature Preserve | 0.6 mi | 13 |
| 3. Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit | — | 98 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Clam Lake Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Clam Lake Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Cadillac ( KAD-ə-lak) is a city in and seat of government of Wexford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,371 at the 2020 census, making it the second most-populated city in the Northern Michigan region, after Traverse City. Cadillac was settled as early as 1871 and formerly known as the village of Clam Lake before incorporating as a city in 1877. The city is located upon the shores of Lake Cadillac, connected by the Clam Lake Canal to Lake Mitchell. The Clam River, which begins in Cadillac, is part of the Muskegon River watershed. Cadillac is the junction of three major highways: US Highway 131, M-55, and M-115. The geographic center of Michigan is approximately five…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Clam Lake Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clam Lake Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | C |
| Cadillac | #514 | C | B | C− | B+ | C− |
| Sherman Township | — | — | C+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Richland Township | — | — | A− | — | A− | C+ |
| Cherry Grove Township | — | — | C | — | B+ | C |
| Haring Township | #302 | B | B+ | — | B+ | C |
Clam Lake Township, Sherman Township, Richland Township and Cherry Grove Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Clam Lake Township, Sherman Township, Richland Township, Cherry Grove Township and Haring Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Clam Lake 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+.