Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Trash & recyclingGrass Lake Township grades A− overall, ranked 138th of 697 in Michigan, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $96K and it has 24 miles of trail. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 72% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $345K, 5.2 years of the Jackson metro’s $66K median household income. The biggest place to walk is Waterloo State Recreation Area, 1,260 acres with 14.8 miles of trail. 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Grass Lake Township, against 8.9% in Michigan’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Grass Lake Township has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Grass Lake Public School and Henry and Aurora (Walker) Vinkle House.
Where Grass Lake Township beats most towns.
Grass Lake Public School
Census counts: 479 in 1860, 1,105 in 2020. The archive holds 22 old photos and papers going back to 1936 and 3 maps from 1958 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Grass Lake Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grass 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Grass Lake Township.
24 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The trail density in Grass Lake Township is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Waterloo State Recreation Area | 14.8 mi | 1,260 |
| 2. Sharonville State Game Area | 0.5 mi | 1,103 |
| 3. Grass Lake State Game Area | — | 121 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The largest public high school is Grass Lake High School, with 394 students. The public schools here belong to the Grass Lake Community Schools. Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Long Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 650 | B− |
| Grass Lake High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 394 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Grass Lake Township for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs in Grass Lake Township grew by 53 from 2011 to 2021, reaching 909. Half of commuters travel less than 16 miles. The top destinations are Jackson (12%), Chelsea (10%) and Scio Township (7%).
| Grass Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $96,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 14% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The share of households in Grass Lake Township who live in a home they own: 91%. Zillow values the typical Grass Lake Township home at about $345,000, up 3.9% in a year, 31% above the Michigan typical home. The town’s median rent stands at $980 a month.
| Grass Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $980 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA puts 50% of Grass Lake Township’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 28% to tornadoes. In Grass Lake Township, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 25 of 100. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in three quarters of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Among adults in Grass Lake Township, 17% say their health is fair or poor. CDC measures, 32 in all: Grass Lake Township beats Michigan on 9 and trails on 1. One in ten adults in Grass Lake Township worry about having enough food; 27% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Grass Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 5.2% | 6.5% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Grass Lake Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.2% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.2% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its July high comes in at 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
32% of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 32% across Michigan. Adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (19% statewide). The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Grass Lake Township at 6,273 residents, up 3.3% since 2020.
| Grass Lake Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.8 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 21% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.7 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Grass Lake Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.1% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.7% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.5% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.7% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.1% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.8% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1 within 15 miles of the center of Grass Lake Township
About 6 of every 100 Grass Lake Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where Grass Lake Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
2 places in Grass Lake Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Village in Michigan, United States
Grass Lake is a village in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,105 at the 2020 census. The village is located just south of Interstate 94 in Grass Lake Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Grass Lake Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grass Lake Township | #138 | A− | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Waterloo Township | #537 | C | C− | — | B+ | B |
| Sharon Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Leoni Township | #532 | C | B | — | C | C |
| Napoleon Township | #403 | B− | B | — | B | C |
| Norvell Township | #360 | B− | B− | — | B | B− |
| Sylvan Township | #72 | A | D | — | A | A |
Sharon Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Grass Lake Township, Waterloo Township, Sharon Township, Leoni Township, Napoleon Township, Norvell Township and Sylvan Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Grass Lake Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Grass Lake Township grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #138 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and B+ 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+.
