Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Farmington Hills does the important things well, at a cost. The city grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns, and ranks 205th of 697 in Michigan. Where it does best is health (A) — it is healthier than 92% of U.S. towns. Schools are another plus — its schools rank ahead of 82% of Michigan towns. The drawback is cost of living (D): the typical home is worth about $387K, 5 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Farmington Hills’ density of trails is 2.5 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Farmington Hills is home to Michigan School of Psychology. On history, just 97 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Farmington Hills beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Farmington Hills | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.2% | 10.2% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Farmington STEAM Academy | K–8 | 714 |
| Hillside Elementary School | K–5 | 682 |
| Gill Elementary School | PK–5 | 543 |
Where Farmington Hills’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 Farmington Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 58,056 in 1980, 83,986 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1843 and 8 maps from 1905 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Farmington Hills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
20 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
15 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a yearin town MuseumMarvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
19 mi TheatreFox TheatreMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Farmington Hills, 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 Farmington Hills.
Farmington Hills draws workers from Detroit and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of Michigan, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Trails total 82 miles in 28 parks and preserves. Heritage Park, at 211 acres with 5.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Farmington Hills | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heritage Park | 5.8 mi | 211 |
| 2. Founders Sports Park | 2.5 mi | 92 |
| 3. Woodland Hills | 2 mi | 75 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $387K.
The public schools here belong to the Farmington Public School District. Of its 23 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. The 6 public schools in Farmington Hills teach 3,250 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington STEAM AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 714 | A |
| North Farmington High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,157 | A |
| Forest Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 404 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
61,653 jobs are based in Farmington Hills, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 22.8% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
The top destinations are Detroit (12%), Southfield (8%) and Livonia (6%). Most working residents leave Farmington Hills for work: only 11% work in town. Since 2011, Farmington Hills has added 6,606 jobs, to 61,653 in 2021. Nearly a quarter of workers do their job from home here.
| Farmington Hills | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 23% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.6% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its widest gap with Michigan is tooth loss: 6.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 10.2% statewide.
Among adults in Farmington Hills, 18% get no exercise outside work. In Farmington Hills, just over one in ten adults report frequent physical distress, and 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Farmington Hills | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Farmington Hills | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.2% | 10.2% |
| Fewer smokers | 9.5% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $5,396, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical home value in Farmington Hills is about $387,000, up 2.1% in a year, 47% above the Michigan typical home. In Farmington Hills, 65% of households are owner-occupiers. Farmington Hills’ midpoint rent is $1,551 a month.
| Farmington Hills | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,551 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 43% | 45% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
88 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 14 properties have flooded more than once.
Federal aid has come to Farmington Hills households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 84% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1979: 88. FEMA puts 43% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 31% to tornadoes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Farmington Hills, the midsummer high is 83°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 1,057 to 777 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 119 reported in 2025, 1.4 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate for Farmington Hills comes to 1.4 per 1,000 residents. The level of property crime for Farmington Hills comes to 7.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Farmington Hills | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.8 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
13 within 15 miles of the center of Farmington Hills
About 7 of every 100 Farmington Hills residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
5.3% of the town is conserved land, across 28 parks and preserves.
3 places in Farmington Hills on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Farmington Hills.
City in Michigan, United States
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Farmington Hills is located roughly 22 miles (35.4 km) from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 83,986, making it the second-largest community in Oakland County. Although the two cities have separate services and addresses, Farmington and Farmington Hills are often thought of as the same community. These two cities combined were part of Farmington Township in the time of the Northwest Territory. The community has several historical sites, including the Governor Warner Mansion. Both cities are served by Farmington Public Schools and the Farmington Commu…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Farmington Hills.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington Hills | #205 | B+ | D | B | A− | A |
| Farmington | #14 | A+ | C | A− | A− | A+ |
| West Bloomfield Township | #135 | A− | D | A− | A | A |
| Novi | #55 | A | D | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Southfield | #615 | C− | C− | D | C+ | B− |
| Livonia | #182 | A− | C | C+ | A− | A− |
| Bloomfield Township | #42 | A | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Farmington Hills grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #205 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
Farmington Hills was incorporated in 1957 and has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 19 notable people were born here, including Elizabeth Berkley and Bill Joy.
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