Crystal TownshipMI
A town of 2,726, settled in 1857.
Is Crystal Township a good place to live?
Crystal Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $217K, 2.6 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C− overall, 582nd among Michigan's 697 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $56K, and 11% of residents live below the poverty line, and residents are less healthy than 79% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Crystal Township’s average trip to work is 42 minutes, above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns.
What makes Crystal Township stand out
Where Crystal Township beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Crystal Township for work
Where Crystal Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Crystal Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Crystal Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Crystal Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Crystal 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 Crystal Township.
Crystal Township trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and sends most of its workers to Greenville and beyond.
Crystal Township earns a C− for health
Against the 7,752 U.S. towns with household incomes like Crystal Township’s, it is less healthy than 62%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
43% of adults have obesity in Crystal Township. Crystal Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 19% of adults smoke cigarettes in Crystal Township.
| Crystal Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Crystal Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 19.2% | 14.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.9% | 6.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.6% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Crystal Township
Crystal Township has 126 jobs for its 938 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 42.3 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Crystal Township for work: only 2% work in town. Jobs based in Crystal Township fell to 126 in 2021, 23 fewer than in 2011. The top destinations are Greenville (7%), Stanton (6%) and Ionia (5%).
| Crystal Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $56,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Low risk in Crystal Township, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1983, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Crystal Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Crystal Township, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Crystal Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Crystal Township earns an A− for cost of living
Homes are within reach (about $217K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 28 miles. At 2.6 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income, the typical home (about $217K) costs less against local pay than in 83% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 8% in the year to September 2026. 91% of Crystal Township households own their home.
| Crystal Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $841 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Crystal Township has set aside 0.5% of its land for conservation
1.1 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crystal Township Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 2. David R. Noll Memorial Park | — | 19 |
| 3. Crystal Lake Public Access | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Crystal Township
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Crystal Township
About 3 of every 100 Crystal Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Crystal Township
Census-designated place in Michigan, United States
Crystal is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the main community in Crystal Township, Montcalm County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 888. The CDP includes the village proper of Crystal, at the east end of Crystal Lake, as well as all of the land surrounding the lake.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 801 ft
- ZIP code
- 48818
Crystal Township’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Crystal Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Township | #582 | C− | A− | — | C+ | C− |
| Evergreen Township | #513 | C | A | — | C+ | C− |
| Bloomer Township | #391 | B− | A+ | — | C+ | C− |
| New Haven Township | — | — | B+ | — | B | C |
New Haven Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Crystal Township, Evergreen Township, Bloomer Township and New Haven Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Crystal Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Crystal Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Crystal Township, MI a good place to live?
Crystal Township grades C− overall, better than 23% of U.S. towns and #582 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Crystal Township, MI expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.