Crystal Lake TownshipMI
A town of 1,094. 5.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Crystal Lake Township a good place to live?
The best of Crystal Lake Township’s subject grades are an A for schools and an A+ for civic life; the weakest is a C− for incomes. 46% of residents are 65 or older in Crystal Lake Township, where Michigan’s towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 18%. Of the 702 Michigan towns we compare, none has a higher median age than Crystal Lake Township. Only 60 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score higher on civic life. The biggest park or preserve is Betsie River State Game Area, at 272 acres. Crystal Lake Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Crystal Lake Township stand out
Where Crystal Lake Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
1,094 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Crystal Lake Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Crystal Lake Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and 2 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Crystal Lake Township. Close and well known come first.
3 mi National LakeshoreSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore1.6M visitors a year
28 mi TheatreRamsdell Theatre12 mi MuseumMichigan Legacy Art ParkPhoto credits
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: en:User:Grod028, Public domain · Ramsdell Theatre: Doug Coldwell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Moving to Crystal Lake Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Crystal 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Crystal Lake Township.
Very low risk in Crystal Lake Township, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Crystal Lake Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Crystal Lake Township has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Crystal Lake Township for work: only 2% work in town. At 19 minutes, Crystal Lake Township’s average trip to work is below both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs based in Crystal Lake Township fell to 86 in 2021, 267 fewer than in 2011.
| Crystal Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Crystal Lake Township
Crystal Lake Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Crystal Lake Township’s July high is 78°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Crystal Lake Township stands out in Michigan and nationally, with fewer of its adults who binge drink
12% of Crystal Lake Township adults binge drink. Crystal Lake Township beats the Michigan average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 28% of Crystal Lake Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Crystal Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 36% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Crystal Lake Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.7% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.1% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 15% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
4.6% of Crystal Lake Township is conserved land
3.9 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves.
| Crystal Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Betsie Dunes Nature Santuary | 1.4 mi | 81 |
| 2. Betsie River State Game Area | — | 272 |
| 3. Railroad Point Natural Area | 0.1 mi | 158 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Crystal Lake Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Crystal Lake Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Crystal Lake Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
98% of working residents leave Crystal Lake Township for work
Where Crystal Lake Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Crystal Lake Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Crystal Lake Township is a civil township of Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,065 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 17 sq mi
- Elevation
- 807 ft
Questions about Crystal Lake Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Crystal Lake Township, MI a good place to live?
5.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Crystal Lake 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 C+.