Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 5,039 residents, it is a town in Michigan.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. On schools it is strong (A−): its public schools beat 80% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. At B+ overall, Elmwood Township is better than 72% of U.S. towns and ranks 224th of 697 in Michigan. The trade-off is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $436K, 5.4 years of the Traverse City metro’s $81K median household income. It also trails on walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve, at 6,501 acres. Elmwood Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
Where Elmwood Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| The Pathfinder School | PK–8 | 129 |
Where Elmwood 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 Elmwood Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1957 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Elmwood 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 Elmwood Township.
Elmwood Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, has less food insecurity than most of Michigan and has added half again as many jobs in ten years.
Expected losses in Elmwood Township break down as 63% from cold waves and 28% from inland flooding. In Elmwood Township, the FEMA hazard score is 7 of 100, below both the Michigan town median (25 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). Paid flood insurance claims locally since 2019: 2.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Pathfinder School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 129 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 701 in 2011 to 1,211.
In Elmwood Township, the average commute is 21 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Just 6% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. The typical household income for Elmwood Township comes to $94,000. Since 2011, Elmwood Township has added 510 jobs, to 1,211 in 2021.
| Elmwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its widest gap with Michigan is food insecurity: 10% of its 15,747 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide.
On the CDC’s 32 measures, Elmwood Township is ahead of Michigan on 13 and behind on 2. Among adults locally, 30% sleep under 7 hours. In Elmwood Township, 15% of adults report frequent mental distress, and 30% feel lonely.
| Elmwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Elmwood Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.8% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In 10 parks and preserves, walkers have 5.1 miles of trail. For Elmwood Township, the concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Elmwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. DeYoung Natural Area | 2.7 mi | 192 |
| 2. Greilickville Harbor Park | 0.4 mi | 4 |
| 3. Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve | 0.3 mi | 6,501 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Nw Michigan Rsch Farm weather station records that 115 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
The peak summer temperature in Elmwood Township is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Elmwood Township
About 3 of every 100 Elmwood Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Charter township in Michigan, United States
Elmwood Township is a charter township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,892 at the 2020 census, making it the largest township in Leelanau County by population. The southeasternmost township of Leelanau County, Elmwood Township is suburbanized, as it is immediately adjacent Traverse City, the largest city in Northern Michigan.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Elmwood Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmwood Township | #224 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Traverse City | #305 | B | C− | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Solon Township | — | — | B | — | A− | A− |
| Greilickville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bingham Township | #371 | B− | B | — | C+ | B+ |
Solon Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Elmwood Township, Solon Township and Bingham Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Greilickville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Elmwood Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Elmwood Township grades B+ overall, better than 72% of U.S. towns and #224 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.