Fairplain TownshipMI
A town of 1,892.
Is Fairplain Township a good place to live?
Fairplain Township’s best subject grade is an A− for cost of living; its weakest is a D for walkability. The median household income is $56K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. 22% of the land in Fairplain Township is conserved, above both Michigan’s towns (4.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Flat River State Game Area, 5,073 acres with 9 miles of trail. Fairplain Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Fairplain Township stand out
Where Fairplain Township beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Fairplain Township for work
Where Fairplain Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Fairplain Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Fairplain Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Fairplain Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fairplain 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 Fairplain Township.
Fairplain Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On CDC estimates, Fairplain Township is less healthy than 80% of U.S. towns
Fairplain Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 42% of adults have obesity in Fairplain Township, where Michigan’s towns sit at 37% and U.S. towns at 35%. 28% of Fairplain Township adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Fairplain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Fairplain Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.9% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 18.3% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.1% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Fairplain Township’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Fairplain Township for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Greenville (14%), Grand Rapids (9%) and Stanton (4%). Half commute less than 27 miles.
| Fairplain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $56,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.3% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Flat River State Game Area | 9 mi | 5,073 |
| 2. Greenville Roadside Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Fairplain Township
Fairplain Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 15° and about 73 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Fairplain Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Fairplain Township
About 2 of every 100 Fairplain Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Fairplain Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Fairplain Township is a civil township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,802 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 840 ft
Fairplain Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Fairplain Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairplain Township | — | — | A− | — | B+ | C− |
| Sidney Township | #602 | C− | A− | — | C+ | C− |
| Eureka Township | #110 | A | A | — | A− | C |
| Orleans Township | #468 | C+ | A | — | B− | C− |
| Bushnell Township | — | — | A | — | C+ | C− |
| Montcalm Township | #339 | B | A | — | A− | C |
Fairplain Township and Bushnell Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Fairplain Township, Sidney Township, Eureka Township, Orleans Township, Bushnell Township and Montcalm Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fairplain Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Fairplain Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Fairplain 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−.