Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. The weak point is health — CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 73% of the country. It lags on incomes as well: the median household income is $68K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. Its best grade is for cost of living (A−): a typical home costs about $158K, 2.3 years of the county’s $68K median household income. Overall, that makes a C+, good for 474th of 697 in Michigan. Set against the rest, it does better than two fifths of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 104 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. 13% of residents are 65 or older in Decatur Township, below both the Michigan town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%).
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · USGS PAD-US.
Where Decatur Township beats most towns.
Where Decatur 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 Decatur Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 564 in 1860, 1,651 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 2 maps from 1944 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Decatur 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 Decatur Township.
Decatur Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has little public open land.
The top destinations are Portage (10%), Antwerp Township (8%) and Paw Paw Township (7%). Employers in Decatur Township added 66 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 628. For half of commuters, work is under 20 miles away.
| Decatur Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.4% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The largest public high school is Decatur Jr Sr High School, with 399 students. Public schools: the Decatur Public Schools. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davis Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 356 | C+ |
| Decatur Jr Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 399 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
The share of adults in Decatur Township who have high blood pressure: 38%. 28% of adults locally have been diagnosed with depression; 13% have diabetes.
| Decatur Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Decatur Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.5% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Just over two fifths of Decatur Township’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 17%. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 73% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid out on 2 claims locally since 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Bloomingdale weather station, 19 miles away, records that 109 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
July afternoons reach 83° and January nights drop to 18°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Just 18 of its 22,637 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Decatur Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.6 miles of trail wind through 1 park or preserve. Decatur Township has one park or preserve, 4 acres in all.
| Decatur Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Woolfe Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Decatur Township
About 3 of every 100 Decatur Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Village in Michigan, United States
Decatur is a village in Van Buren County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2020 census, Decatur had a population of 1,651. The village is located within Decatur Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Decatur Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur Township | #474 | C+ | A− | — | B− | C |
| Porter Township | — | — | C | — | B− | B− |
| Paw Paw Township | #395 | B− | B | — | B | C+ |
| Hamilton Township | — | — | B− | — | B− | C− |
| Volinia Township | — | — | B | — | B | C |
Porter Township, Hamilton Township and Volinia Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Decatur Township, Porter Township, Paw Paw Township, Hamilton Township and Volinia Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Decatur Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Decatur Township grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #474 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and B− for schools.
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−.