Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Forsyth Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $169K for a typical one, or 2.6 years of the Marquette area’s $65K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 461st among Michigan's 697 graded towns. Forsyth Township’s density of trails is 1.0 miles per square mile, above both the Michigan town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. Gwinn Model Town Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Forsyth Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Forsyth Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 4 maps from 1932 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Forsyth 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 Forsyth Township.
Forsyth Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has added half again as many jobs in ten years, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
Across 11 parks and preserves: 186 miles of trail. The biggest place to walk is Little Trout Lake Park, 241 acres with 2.1 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (South) | 85.3 mi | 60,250 |
| 2. Little Trout Lake Park | 2.1 mi | 241 |
| 3. Silver Lead Creek Greenway | 0.5 mi | 163 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: the Gwinn Area Community Schools. The largest public high school is Gwinn MiddleHigh School, with 477 students. Below: Two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| George D Gilbert Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 208 | C− |
| Gwinn MiddleHigh SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 477 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Its violent offense rate is 1.7 per 1,000 residents, where Michigan’s towns sit at 1.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Forsyth Township’s rate of thefts and burglaries is 2.5 per 1,000 residents, against 8 in Michigan’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns.
| Forsyth Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2002. Forsyth Township’s risk rating from FEMA is 30 of 100. Expected losses in Forsyth Township break down as 44% from cold waves and 35% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Marquette weather station, 21 miles away, records that 197 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 100% of U.S. towns.
For Forsyth Township, the typical July afternoon high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 907 in 2011 to 1,611.
Half commute less than 18 miles. For working residents in Forsyth Township, the share who work locally is 25%. Between 2011 and 2021, jobs locally rose by 704, to 1,611. The middle household income here is $62,000.
| Forsyth Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
People 65 and older are 24% of residents (19% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). The age of the median resident for Forsyth Township comes to 47.5 years. 27% of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 32% across Michigan.
| Forsyth Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 47.5 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 19% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Forsyth Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.4% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.2% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.1% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.6% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 30.7% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.9% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.2% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The nearest emergency room, Uphs Marquette DLP Hospital, is 21.6 miles away in a straight line. Against the 9,418 U.S. towns with household incomes like Forsyth Township’s, it is healthier than 60%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
31% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Forsyth Township. Two figures for adults in the town: 28% have been diagnosed with depression, 30% feel lonely.
| Forsyth Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Forsyth Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Forsyth Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Forsyth Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Forsyth Township is a civil township of Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,194 at the 2020 census. The township was named for O. F. Forsyth, general agent for a mining firm in the area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Forsyth Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forsyth Township | #461 | C+ | A− | B+ | C | C+ |
| Sands Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B− |
| Richmond Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Skandia Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Branch Township · West Branch Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B |
| Tilden Township | — | — | A | — | B+ | C+ |
| Wells Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Turin Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sands Township, West Branch Township and Tilden Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sands Township, West Branch Township and Tilden Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Richmond Township, Skandia Township, Wells Township and Turin Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). West Branch Township and West Branch Township are one community, graded once. Compare Forsyth Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Forsyth Township grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #461 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.