Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Pointe Farms grades A overall, 62nd among Michigan's 697 graded towns. The median household earns $161K. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates and its schools outperform 93% of the state's. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $524K, 6.8 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. 77% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Grosse Pointe Farms, above both the Michigan town median (26%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On hazard risk, just 25 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Grosse Pointe Farms has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Russell A. Alger Jr. House and Academy of the Sacred Heart.
Where Grosse Pointe Farms beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Grosse Pointe Farms | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.7% | 10.2% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Kerby Elementary School | K–4 | 321 |
| Richard Elementary School | K–4 | 313 |
| St. Paul Catholic School | PK–8 | 428 |
Russell A. Alger Jr. House
Census counts: 817 in 1900, 10,148 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1891 and 8 maps from 1905 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Grosse Pointe Farms is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grosse Pointe Farms. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
9 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
12 mi LakeLake Saint Clair
9 mi TheatreFox Theatre
6 mi City parkBelle Isle Park
9 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsFord Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Belle Isle Park: WMrapids, CC0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grosse Pointe Farms, 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 Pointe Farms.
Grosse Pointe Farms is among the three healthiest towns in Michigan, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Michigan (mostly inland flooding) and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Michigan.
At 6.8 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $524K) costs more against local pay than in 97% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The median property tax bill is $8,238, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow values the typical Grosse Pointe Farms home at about $524,000, up 5.3% in a year, 99% above the Michigan typical home. In Grosse Pointe Farms, 97% of households are owner-occupiers. On the market in the town: a median 28 days to sell.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $524K.
Public schools: the Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Three of its 6 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The largest public high school is Grosse Pointe South High School, with 1,123 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownell Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 605 | A |
| Grosse Pointe South High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,123 | A+ |
| Richard Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 313 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
It ranks #3 of the 701 Michigan towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with Michigan is tooth loss: 2.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 10.2% statewide.
For adults in Grosse Pointe Farms, the share who worry about having enough food is 5%. Only 10 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Grosse Pointe Farms. The town beats the Michigan average on 27 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Grosse Pointe Farms | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 32% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6.8% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Grosse Pointe Farms | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.7% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 1,768 in 2011 to 3,012. 25.3% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
The top destinations are Detroit (22%), Warren (5%) and Troy (5%). Among residents in Grosse Pointe Farms, 2.5% live below the poverty line. Employers in Grosse Pointe Farms added 1,244 jobs between 2011 and 2021, to 3,012. Half the trips to work are shorter than 13 miles.
| Grosse Pointe Farms | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $161,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 25% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Michigan towns, with expected losses of about $638 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
83% of Grosse Pointe Farms’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 6%. The FEMA hazard score here is 71 of 100. Paid flood insurance claims in the town since 2021: 3.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In July, afternoons reach 82°; in January, nights fall to 20°, and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Grosse Pointe Farms’ concentration of trails stands at 0.1 miles per square mile. Count the trails in 3 parks and preserves and they come to 1.5 miles. Parks and preserves in the town: 3, covering 31 acres.
| Grosse Pointe Farms | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pier Park | — | 16 |
| 2. Kerby Field | — | 14 |
| 3. Beacon Hill Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
In Grosse Pointe Farms, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 12.6 per 1,000 residents. Grosse Pointe Farms’ violent crime rate comes in at 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Grosse Pointe Farms | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
7 within 15 miles of the center of Grosse Pointe Farms
About 5 of every 100 Grosse Pointe Farms residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where Grosse Pointe Farms’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
13 places in Grosse Pointe Farms on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Grosse Pointe Farms.
City in Michigan, United States
Grosse Pointe Farms is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. One of the five "Grosse Pointe" suburbs of Detroit, Grosse Pointe Farms is located on the shore of Lake St. Clair and borders Detroit to the east, roughly 10 miles (16.1 km) east of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,148. Grosse Pointe Farms was originally incorporated as a village in 1893 and again as a city in 1949.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Grosse Pointe Farms.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grosse Pointe Farms | #62 | A | C− | B | A | A+ |
| Grosse Pointe | #148 | A− | D | C+ | A | A+ |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | #180 | A− | C− | B | A | A+ |
| Village of Grosse Pointe Shores | #53 | A | C | — | A | A+ |
Village of Grosse Pointe Shores reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Grosse Pointe Farms with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Pointe Farms grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #62 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A+ for health, B for safety 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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Meg White and Emilea Zingas.
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