Elk TownshipMI
A town of 1,025. 30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Elk Township a good place to live?
Elk Township’s best subject grade is an A for civic life; its weakest is a D for walkability. 43% of residents are 65 or older in Elk Township, above both Michigan’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (18%). Of the 702 Michigan towns we compare, none has a higher median age than Elk Township. Elk Township's schools rank behind 79% of the state's. 39% of the land in Elk Township is conserved, above both Michigan’s towns (4.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). On history, just 20 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Elk Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Elk Township stand out
Where Elk Township beats most towns.
1,025 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Elk Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Elk Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Elk Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Elk 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 Elk Township.
Nearly a third of Elk Township is conserved land
36 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Elk Township’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District | 29.1 mi | 8,980 |
| 2. Manistee National Forest - Baldwin Ranger District | — | 3 |
| 3. Harper Lake Public Access | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Elk Township stands out in Michigan and nationally, with more of its adults who have high blood pressure
49% of Elk Township adults have high blood pressure. Elk Township beats the Michigan average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 17% of Elk Township adults have diabetes.
| Elk Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 36% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Elk Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 11.9% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 13.1% | 15.9% |
| More adults with heart disease | 12.2% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Elk Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.0 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Elk Township for work: only 1% work in town. The average trip to work in Elk Township is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Elk Township fell to 12 in 2021, 41 fewer than in 2011.
| Elk Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Elk Township has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Elk Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 15° and about 93 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Elk Township faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lake Michigan and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Elk Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi LakeLake Michigan
37 mi National LakeshoreSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore1.6M visitors a year
18 mi National forestManistee National Forest
39 mi MuseumJim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
19 mi TheatreRamsdell Theatre20 mi MuseumShrine of the PinesPhoto credits
Lake Michigan: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, ISS Expedition, Public domain · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: en:User:Grod028, Public domain · Manistee National Forest: RomanKahler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia: Jim Crow Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ramsdell Theatre: Doug Coldwell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Elk Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Elk Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Elk Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
99% of working residents leave Elk Township for work
Where Elk Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Elk Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Elk Township is a civil township of Lake County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 940.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 761 ft
Questions about Elk Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Elk Township, MI a good place to live?
30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Elk 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.