Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,197, settled in 1845. 3.7 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Trash day: WednesdayFrankenmuth grades A− overall, 158th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its public schools beat 92% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 83% of the country. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $85K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $321K, 5.3 years of the Saginaw metro’s $61K median household income. 33% of working residents work locally in Frankenmuth, against 5.9% in Michigan’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Only 43 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on hazard risk. Frankenmuth's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 100% of U.S. towns.
Where Frankenmuth beats most towns.
Where Frankenmuth’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 Frankenmuth is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 693 in 1910, 4,987 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1942 and 4 maps from 1963 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Frankenmuth, 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 Frankenmuth.
Frankenmuth draws workers from Birch Run Township and beyond and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Michigan; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Michigan (mostly inland flooding).
5,415 jobs are based in Frankenmuth, 2.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Frankenmuth’s mean commuting time comes in at 21 minutes. Employers in Frankenmuth added 597 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 5,415. 4.9% of Frankenmuth residents live below the poverty line. Half the trips to work are shorter than 13 miles.
| Frankenmuth | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The largest public high school is Frankenmuth High School, with 504 students. The public schools here belong to the Frankenmuth School District. Of its 4 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenz C List SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 479 | A− |
| Frankenmuth High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 504 | A |
| EF Rittmueller Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 368 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
The biggest park or preserve is Memorial Park, at 38 acres. There are 1.9 miles of trail across 17 parks and preserves. The trail density in Frankenmuth is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Frankenmuth | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 15% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heritage Park | 0.8 mi | 35 |
| 2. Memorial Park | 0.6 mi | 38 |
| 3. Woelzlein Preserve | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The share of adults in Frankenmuth who report frequent physical distress: 13%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Frankenmuth beats Michigan on 17 and trails on 2. In Frankenmuth, 29% of adults sleep under 7 hours, and 9.4% smoke cigarettes.
| Frankenmuth | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 15% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Frankenmuth | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.8% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.6% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.8% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Michigan towns, with expected losses of about $459 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Expected losses in Frankenmuth break down as 77% from inland flooding and 8% from cold waves. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1996: one. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Frankenmuth after 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2026.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For Frankenmuth, the typical rent is $851 a month. The typical home value here is about $321,000, up 1.8% in a year, 22% above the Michigan typical home. Homes sold in Frankenmuth spent a median 9 days on the market.
| Frankenmuth | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $851 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Saginaw #3 weather station, 12 miles away, records that 41 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 77% of Michigan places with climate records.
July afternoons reach 83° and January nights drop to 16°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
The level of violent crime for Frankenmuth comes to 1.3 per 1,000 residents. The property crime rate for Frankenmuth comes to 8.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Frankenmuth | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Frankenmuth. Close and well known come first.
21 mi MuseumUSS Edson
22 mi MuseumSloan Museum
33 mi GardenDow Gardens
21 mi MuseumSaginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum17 mi MuseumCrossroads Village (Michigan)12 mi Zoo & aquariumChildren's Zoo at Celebration SquareUSS Edson: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dow Gardens: Chris.Schiemann, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum: John McCullough, CC BY-SA 2.5
None within 15 miles of Frankenmuth; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Frankenmuth residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
15% of the town is conserved land, across 17 parks and preserves.
City in Michigan, United States
Frankenmuth ( FRANK-ən-mooth) is a city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,987 at the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Frankenmuth Township. The city's name is a combination of two German words: Franken for the region of Franconia in Bavaria from which the original settlers came, and Mut (formerly spelled as Muth) which means "courage". Thus, the name Frankenmuth means "courage of the Franconians". The most popular nickname is "Little Bavaria", in reference to the city's German heritage.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Frankenmuth.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankenmuth | #158 | A− | C | B | A | A− |
| Frankenmuth Township | — | — | C− | — | A | B+ |
Frankenmuth Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Frankenmuth Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Frankenmuth with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Frankenmuth grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #158 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A− for health, B for safety 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.
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