Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,892.
Grayling Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $184K, 3 years of the county’s $60K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 502nd of 697 graded towns in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $65K, and 12% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 79% of the country. On the plus side, it has 502 miles of trail. Grayling Township’s trail density is 2.9 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Michigan’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Hartwick Pines State Park, 9,246 acres with 27.7 miles of trail. Grayling Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 90% of U.S. towns.
Where Grayling Township beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Kirtland Community College | 916 |
20.8% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Grayling Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,775 in 1910, 1,867 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 2 maps from 1949 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Grayling 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 Grayling Township.
Grayling Township trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is a second-home town and has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Au Sable State Forest - Grayling Unit | 351.6 mi | 59,759 |
| 2. Huron National Forest | 34.5 mi | 7,280 |
| 3. Hartwick Pines State Park | 27.7 mi | 9,246 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
17% of Grayling Township adults report frequent physical distress, above both the Michigan town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 42% of adults have high blood pressure in Grayling Township. Grayling Township beats the Michigan average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11.
| Grayling Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Grayling Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.9% | 77.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.6% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Grayling Township for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Grayling (20%), Beaver Creek Township (4%) and Gaylord (4%).
| Grayling Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $184K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles.
The typical Grayling Township home is worth about $184,000, up 2.7% in a year, 30% below the Michigan typical home. The median rent in Grayling Township is $913 a month.
| Grayling Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $913 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
33.8% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 5.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 25% of residents (19% statewide). Grayling Township’s median age is 49.8 years. Grayling Township has grown 4.3% since 2020, to 5,892 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Grayling Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.8 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 21% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Grayling Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.3% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.7% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.4% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.8% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.2% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.9% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.9% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The Grayling weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 124 days, shorter than in 96% of U.S. towns. The Grayling weather station records that 88 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns.
Grayling Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 11°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 60% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Grayling Township since 2026.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Grayling Township
About 2 of every 100 Grayling Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Grayling ( GRAY-ling) is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the only incorporated community in Crawford County. As of the 2020 census, Grayling had a population of 1,867. The city is surrounded by Grayling Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously. The city is located in the middle of the Northern Michigan region at the junctions of Interstate 75, U.S. Route 127, M-72, and M-93. Grayling is well known for hosting the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon in July of every year since 1947. The city is named after the grayling species of fish once abundant in the Au Sable River, although the species has been extirpated in Michigan si…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Grayling Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grayling Township | #502 | C+ | B+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Lovells Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Branch Township | — | — | B+ | — | B | C |
| Frederic Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| Maple Forest Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bear Lake Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Beaver Creek Township | — | — | B | — | B+ | C |
South Branch Township, Frederic Township and Beaver Creek Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Grayling Township, South Branch Township, Frederic Township and Beaver Creek Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lovells Township, Maple Forest Township and Bear Lake Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Grayling Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Grayling Township grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #502 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.