Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,409, settled in 1851. Public schools that outperform most of Michigan.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Ile Township grades A− overall, ranked 129th of 697 in Michigan. Its schools outperform 90% of the state's. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $127K. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $396K for a typical one and 5.2 times the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Grosse Ile Township has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them St. James Episcopal Church and East River Road Historic District. Among 272 Michigan towns, just one has a lower property crime rate than Grosse Ile Township. The biggest park or preserve is Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, at 1,232 acres.
Where Grosse Ile Township beats most towns.
Where Grosse Ile Township’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 Grosse Ile Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1947 and 8 maps from 1906 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grosse Ile Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
16 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
13 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
15 mi TheatreFox Theatre
33 mi LakeLake Saint ClairMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grosse Ile 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 Grosse Ile Township.
Grosse Ile Township has less food insecurity than most of Michigan, costs more than Brownstown Township or any other town next door and has better schools than Trenton or any other neighbor.
That grade is the best School Grade on its borders; Trenton (A−) is next.
The public schools here belong to the Grosse Ile Township Schools. Three of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The largest public high school is Grosse Ile High School, with 510 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grosse Ile Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 383 | A− |
| Grosse Ile High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 510 | A |
| Meridian Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 313 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Michigan is food insecurity: 7.5% of its 8,287 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide. Its A for health tops all 5 graded neighbors; Gibraltar (A−) comes closest.
In Grosse Ile Township, 7.5% of adults worry about having enough food, below both Michigan’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (14%). 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in the town. Against the Michigan average, Grosse Ile Township comes out ahead on 21 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 3. Two figures for adults locally: 28% have obesity, 10% smoke cigarettes.
| Grosse Ile Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Grosse Ile Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 15.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.2% | 10.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In 25 parks and preserves, walkers have 12 miles of trail. Grosse Ile Township’s concentration of trails is 0.6 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Grosse Ile Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Manchester Woods | 1.3 mi | 140 |
| 2. Centennial Farm Open Space | 1.2 mi | 74 |
| 3. Island Ave Woods | 0.7 mi | 69 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Brownstown Township is next at $301K. The median property tax bill is $6,042, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The share of households in Grosse Ile Township who are owner-occupiers: 92%. Values rose 4% in the 12 months to September 2026. Its typical rent is $1,414 a month.
| Grosse Ile Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 92% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,414 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Grosse Ile Township has 1,149 jobs for its 4,307 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Commuting out is the norm in the town: 8% of working residents work locally. Grosse Ile Township: 4.1% of residents live below the poverty line. Employers in Grosse Ile Township shed 189 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 1,149. Its mean commuting time is 31 minutes.
| Grosse Ile Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $127,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.1% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Grosse Ile Township after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2023. On expected storm and flood damage, Grosse Ile Township sits below 77% of U.S. communities. Also worth knowing: since 1978, Grosse Ile Township has seen 33 flood insurance claims paid out. Expected losses in Grosse Ile Township break down as 70% from inland flooding and 11% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 20°, and about 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025. Grosse Ile Township’s level of violent crime stands at 0.3 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
3 within 15 miles of the center of Grosse Ile Township
About 4 of every 100 Grosse Ile Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
6 places in Grosse Ile Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Grosse Ile Township is a civil township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Downriver suburb of Detroit, Grosse Ile Township consists of multiple islands in the Detroit River (the largest of which is Grosse Ile), roughly 18 miles (29.0 km) southwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population was 10,777. Named by French explorers in 1679, Grosse Île means "Big Island". Later taken under British rule after 1763, the island was not settled by European Americans until after the United States achieved independence in the American Revolutionary War. Grosse Ile Township was organized in 1914 after it split away from Monguagon Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Grosse Ile Township.
Wyandotte next door grades lower for schools (B− to Grosse Ile Township’s A) and higher for cost of living (B+ to C−).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grosse Ile Township | #129 | A− | C− | — | A | A |
| Trenton | #11 | A+ | B | A− | A− | B+ |
| Wyandotte | #301 | B | B+ | B | B− | C+ |
| Brownstown Township | #326 | B | C | B | B+ | B |
| Gibraltar | #140 | A− | B− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Riverview | #188 | A− | C+ | B− | B+ | B |
Grosse Ile Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Grosse Ile Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Ile Township grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #129 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. 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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