Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Croton Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 623rd of 697 graded towns in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 54% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: residents are less healthy than 72% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. A typical home there costs about $217K, 3.4 years of the county’s $63K median household income. Croton Township’s average trip to work is 38 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. On civic life, just 120 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns do worse.
Where Croton Township beats most towns.
Where Croton 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 Croton Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2015 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Croton 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 Croton Township.
27 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Croton Township is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is MK Conklin Park, at 20 acres.
| Croton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.9% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. MK Conklin Park | 0.1 mi | 20 |
| 2. Pine Street Access | — | 7 |
| 3. Charles Besemer Muskegon River Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Croton Township has 109 jobs for its 1,254 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 38.3 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Of the 701 Michigan towns we compare, none has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Croton Township. Since 2011, Croton Township has lost 46 jobs, to 109 in 2021. 13% of Croton Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Croton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Croton Township. Croton Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Croton Township.
| Croton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Croton Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.5% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 18% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Croton Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 15° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Croton Township; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Croton Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Croton Township is a civil township of Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,368 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Croton Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croton Township | #623 | C− | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Big Prairie Township | #662 | D | B+ | — | C+ | D |
| Ensley Township | #256 | B+ | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Brooks Township | #620 | C− | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Reynolds Township | #243 | B+ | A+ | — | B | C |
Croton Township, Big Prairie Township, Ensley Township, Brooks Township and Reynolds Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Croton Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Croton Township grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #623 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and B− 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 C+.
