Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town settled in 1875, now home to 1,553 people.
Fife Lake Township’s best subject grades are an A− for schools and the outdoors; its weakest is a C for walkability. Fife Lake Township’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On hazard risk, just 88 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Fife Lake Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Fife Lake Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Where Fife Lake Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 394 in 1890, a low of 215 in 1920, 456 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 2003 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
2,791 counted in 2010 and 1,526 in 2020; an estimated 1,553 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Ordered by what stands out in Fife Lake Township.
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Fife Lake Township than in 95% of U.S. communities. 57% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from cold waves, followed by inland flooding at 26%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The public schools here belong to the Forest Area Community Schools. Its one school is below. Fife Lake Township’s only public school teaches 144 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fife Lake Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 144 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Half the trips to work are shorter than 18 miles. Employers in Fife Lake Township added 177 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 222. For residents locally, the share who live below the poverty line is 4.2%. The top destinations are Traverse City (32%), Garfield Township (13%) and Paradise Township (4%).
| Fife Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 6.7% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The share of adults in Fife Lake Township who have high blood pressure: 38%. In Fife Lake Township, 16% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 27% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Fife Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Fife Lake Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 17.4% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
13% of residents are under 18 in Fife Lake Township. People 65 and older are 28% of residents (19% statewide); children under 18 are 13% of residents (21% statewide). Also worth knowing: the midpoint age for Fife Lake Township comes to 54.7 years. Here, 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 32% in Michigan as a whole.
| Fife Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 54.7 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 13% | 21% | 22% |
45% women, 55% men
About 122 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.5 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Fife Lake Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.5% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.9% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.3% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.1% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.8% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 23% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.6% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.4% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.1% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
In Fife Lake Township, the midsummer high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values are up 3.3% over the year to September 2026. 91% of Fife Lake Township households are owner-occupiers. Its median rent comes in at $1,500 a month.
| Fife Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,500 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Across 4 parks and preserves: 140 miles of trail. Fife Lake Township’s conserved land covers 2.2% of the town.
| Fife Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 3.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.2% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit | 126.1 mi | 10,666 |
| 2. Fife Lake Area Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Lakeside Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fife Lake 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.
Where Fife Lake Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
None within 15 miles of Fife Lake Township; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Fife Lake Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Village in Michigan, United States
Fife Lake ( FYFE) is a village in southeastern Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 456 at the 2020 census, up from 443 at the 2010 census. The village is part of the Traverse City metropolitan area, and lies upon the shore of the lake of the same name.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Fife Lake Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fife Lake Township | — | — | B | — | A− | C |
| Paradise Township | #204 | B+ | B+ | — | A | B− |
| Liberty Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Springfield Township | — | — | A− | — | C | C− |
| Union Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenwood Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Fife Lake Township and Springfield Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Fife Lake Township, Paradise Township and Springfield Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Liberty Township, Union Township and Greenwood Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Fife Lake Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 3 years of the area's median household income ($80,889 across the Traverse City, MI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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