Even on the area’s higher pay, Grattan Township costs more to live in than 59% of U.S. towns
It ranks #459 of 701 in Michigan for affordability. Home prices around Grattan Township have risen about 56% over the past 5 years. Builders were permitted 10 new homes in 2025.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI metro area ($83K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Grattan Township’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($83K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up no better than renters: 22% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 14% of renters.
In dollars
- $1,470a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 96prices across the Grand Rapids metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 87)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 4.3 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$83K, Grand Rapids-area income
- 16%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 22%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What kind of housing town is Grattan Township?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Grattan Township’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Grattan Township is more affordable than 41% of U.S. towns, #459 of 701 in Michigan. Home prices pull the grade down most; the share of households paying 30%+ for housing holds it up.
Home prices up 56% in 5 years
The federal house price index for the ZIP codes around Grattan Township rose 56% over the past 5 years, faster than across Michigan (52%). Last year prices rose 1.6%. Carrying the Census median home value forward with that index puts the typical Grattan Township home at roughly $421,000 today.
Carrying the Census median forward with the index puts a typical home at about $421K.
Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (annual) for the ZIP codes around Grattan Township, weighted by land area. It tracks repeat sales of the same homes, so it shows how prices changed, not what homes cost.
A typical home costs 4.3 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Grattan Township’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $104K short of a typical Grattan Township home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,470 a month here, $1,100 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Grattan Township’s typical property tax (1.05% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,470
Renters already here pay a median of $1,138, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
10 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 10 new homes in Grattan Township in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $4.3 million to build. That's 2.6 per 1,000 residents, about the pace of Michigan as a whole. Over the past 10 years, Grattan Township has permitted 125 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Grattan Township gained 188 residents while 112 new homes were permitted: about 1.7 new residents per new home, more than across Michigan (1.2): growth outpaced building.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 5 | 5 | 0 | $2.4 million |
| 2025 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $4.3 million |
| 2024 | 11 | 11 | 0 | $5.9 million |
| 2023 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $3.1 million |
| 2022 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $6.9 million |
| 2021 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $5.2 million |
| 2020 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $4.7 million |
| 2019 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $3.9 million |
| 2018 | 20 | 20 | 0 | $7 million |
| 2017 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $3 million |
| 2016 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $3.5 million |
| 2015 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $3.2 million |
| 2014 | 11 | 11 | 0 | $2.7 million |
| 2013 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $2.2 million |
| 2012 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $1.7 million |
| 2011 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $930,000 |
| 2010 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $1.7 million |
| 2009 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $595,000 |
| 2008 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $2.7 million |
| 2007 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $3 million |
| 2006 | 18 | 18 | 0 | $5.4 million |
| 2005 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $2.9 million |
| 2004 | 42 | 42 | 0 | $5.4 million |
| 2003 | 31 | 31 | 0 | $4.2 million |
| 2002 | 18 | 18 | 0 | $2.1 million |
| 2001 | 24 | 24 | 0 | $3.6 million |
| 2000 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $2.5 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
High tax bills, but a low tax rate
The median bill is $3,735 (Michigan: $2,904), because homes cost more. As a share of value it’s 1.05% a year, against 1.25% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Grattan Township
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI metro area, or Michigan. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 96 | MI 96 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 94 | MI 96 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 94 | MI 100 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 100 | MI 101 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Electricity cents per kWh, homes | 23.1¢ | U.S. 18.3¢ | state | EIA, July 2026 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Grattan Township vs. its neighbors
Zillow publishes no value for Grattan Township. Cannon Township and Vergennes Township and Oakfield Township and Otisco Township have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, latest | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grattan Township | C+ | — | $356K | 1.05% | $1,470 |
| Oakfield Township | B− | — | $347K | 0.88% | $1,420 |
| Vergennes Township | C− | — | $392K | 0.90% | $1,470 |
| Cannon Township | C | — | $461K | 1.02% | $1,810 |
| Otisco Township | A− | — | $245K | 0.98% | $1,300 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Grattan Township
Is Grattan Township expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Grattan Township costs more than 59% of U.S. towns: a C+ for cost of living, #459 of 701 in Michigan. The typical home costs 4.3 years of the median household income of the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI metro area ($83K).
How much is rent in Grattan Township?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,470 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,138 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Grattan Township?
The median bill is $3,735 a year, 1.05% of the median home value (Michigan: $2,904, 1.25%), from the Census 2020–24.
Neighbors talk housing
What Grattan Township buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Price trend: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.