Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Pointe Woods grades A− overall, ranked 180th of 697 in Michigan. It is healthier than 95% of U.S. towns. Its schools outperform 93% of the state's and the median household earns $126K. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $354K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. 65% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Grosse Pointe Woods, above both the Michigan town median (26%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). No town in Michigan scores lower than Grosse Pointe Woods on hazard risk. The biggest park or preserve is Ghesquiere Park, at 22 acres.
Where Grosse Pointe Woods beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Grosse Pointe Woods’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 Pointe Woods is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 961 in 1930, 16,487 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 8 maps from 1905 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grosse Pointe Woods. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
10 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
11 mi LakeLake Saint Clair
11 mi TheatreFox Theatre
8 mi GardenBelle Isle Park
20 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a yearFord 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 · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grosse Pointe Woods, 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 Woods.
Grosse Pointe Woods has less tooth loss than most of Michigan and pairs an A for schools with high home prices, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Michigan (mostly inland flooding).
Its widest gap with Michigan is tooth loss: 4.2% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 10.2% statewide.
27% of Grosse Pointe Woods adults feel lonely.
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Grosse Pointe Woods | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.2% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $354K.
Its public schools are run by the Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Grosse Pointe North High School, with 924 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parcells Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 671 | B+ |
| Grosse Pointe North High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 924 | A |
| Ferry Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 357 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Michigan towns, with expected losses of about $767 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Grosse Pointe Woods is 87 of 100. Since 1979, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Grosse Pointe Woods.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $6,220, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Grosse Pointe Woods’ median rent is $1,879 a month. The typical Grosse Pointe Woods home is worth about $354,000, up 2.6% in a year, 34% above the Michigan typical home. 90% of households own their home in Grosse Pointe Woods.
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,879 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 90% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here fell from 4,647 in 2011 to 3,219. 27% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Grosse Pointe Woods for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2011, Grosse Pointe Woods has lost 1,428 jobs, to 3,219 in 2021. The top destinations are Detroit (23%), Warren (7%) and Troy (5%).
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $126,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Grosse Pointe Woods has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 20° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.4 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ghesquiere Park | 0.3 mi | 22 |
| 2. Sweeney Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Chene-Trombley Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 13 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
7 within 15 miles of the center of Grosse Pointe Woods
About 5 of every 100 Grosse Pointe Woods residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
4 notable people were born in Grosse Pointe Woods.
City in Michigan, United States
Grosse Pointe Woods is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. One of the five "Grosse Pointe" suburbs of Detroit, Grosse Pointe Woods is located roughly 12 miles (19.3 km) east of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, Grosse Pointe Woods had a population of 16,487.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Grosse Pointe Woods.
Detroit next door grades lower for schools (C− to Grosse Pointe Woods’s A) and higher for cost of living (B+ to C−).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grosse Pointe Woods | #180 | A− | C− | B | A | A+ |
| Harper Woods | #656 | D | C+ | D− | A− | C− |
| Detroit | #680 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Village of Grosse Pointe Shores | #53 | A | C | — | A | A+ |
| Grosse Pointe Farms | #62 | A | C− | B | A | A+ |
Village of Grosse Pointe Shores reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Grosse Pointe Woods with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Grosse Pointe Woods grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #180 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A+ for health, B for safety and A for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.
4 notable people were born here, including Antonio Cipriano and Andy Miele.
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