Garfield TownshipNewaygo County, MI
A town of 2,589.
Is Garfield Township a good place to live?
Garfield Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, ranked 541st of 697 in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $85K. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 71% of the country. A typical home there costs about $251K, 4 years of the county’s $63K median household income. Garfield Township’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes.
What makes Garfield Township stand out
Where Garfield Township beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Garfield Township for work
Where Garfield Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Garfield Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Garfield Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Garfield Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Garfield 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 Garfield Township.
Low risk in Garfield Township, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Garfield Township’s workers commute out
The average commute for its 922 working residents takes 35 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Garfield Township for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Garfield Township fell to 329 in 2021, 26 fewer than in 2011. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (11%), Fremont (8%) and Newaygo (7%).
| Garfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 8.3% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Garfield Township’s grade for health is a C
18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Garfield Township. Garfield Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Garfield Township.
| Garfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| What stands out | Garfield Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.8% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.2% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.4% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Garfield Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Garfield Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Garfield Township has set aside 1.6% of its land for conservation
3.9 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Garfield Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Garfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Anderson's Flats Boating Access Site | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Garfield Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Garfield Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Garfield Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Garfield Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Garfield Township is a civil township of Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,486 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 34 sq mi
- Elevation
- 820 ft
Garfield Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Garfield Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield Township | #541 | C | C+ | — | B | C |
| Newaygo | #642 | D | C+ | C− | B− | C+ |
| Ashland Township | #374 | B− | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Brooks Township | #620 | C− | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Sheridan Township | #402 | B− | B | — | B | C+ |
| Sherman Township | — | — | C− | — | B− | C |
Sherman Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Garfield Township, Ashland Township, Brooks Township, Sheridan Township and Sherman Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Garfield Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Garfield Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Garfield Township, MI a good place to live?
Garfield Township grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #541 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and B for schools.
Is Garfield Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.