Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,169.
Gun Plain Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $323K for a typical one, or 3.9 years of the Holland area’s $83K median household income. It grades A− overall, 178th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. James Noble Sherwood House is on the National Register of Historic Places. 92% of households own their home in Gun Plain Township, against 84% in Michigan’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Allegan State Game Area, at 104 acres.
Where Gun Plain Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Gun Plain Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,796 in 1960, 6,148 in 2020. The archive holds 4 maps from 1916 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Gun Plain 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 Gun Plain Township.
Gun Plain Township has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Michigan, trades workers with Kalamazoo and other neighbors and costs more than Cooper Township or any other town next door.
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Cooper Township is next at $276K.
The typical Gun Plain Township home is worth about $323,000, up 3.1% in a year, 23% above the Michigan typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Battle Creek 5nw weather station, 18 miles away, records that about 10 days a year reach 90°, the #2 highest of 1,980 Michigan places with climate records.
Gun Plain Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 65 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Gun Plain Township has about as many jobs (2,363) as working residents, but only 125 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 925 in 2011 to 2,363.
Most working residents leave Gun Plain Township for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Gun Plain Township grew to 2,363 in 2021, 1,438 more than in 2011. Gun Plain Township’s average trip to work is 28 minutes.
| Gun Plain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.6% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.9% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (38% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Gun Plain Township is 44.7 years. 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Gun Plain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 44.7 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 26% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Gun Plain Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.5% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.4% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.3% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.1% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.1% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.2% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.7% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Gun Plain Township beats the Michigan average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 31% of Gun Plain Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Gun Plain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 6% | 6.5% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Gun Plain Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.2% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Gun Plain Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Allegan State Game Area | — | 104 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Gun Plain Township since 1985.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gun Plain Township. Close and well known come first.
16 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
36 mi MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
35 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
36 mi MuseumFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
9 mi MuseumGilmore Car Museum87K visitors a year35 mi TheatreAcrisure AmphitheaterAir Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Staff of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Public domain · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: User Jeffness on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Gilmore Car Museum: Kevin S. Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Gun Plain Township
About 4 of every 100 Gun Plain Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Charter township in Michigan, United States
Gun Plain Charter Township (T1N R11W) is a charter township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 6,148. The city of Plainwell lies within the township's survey area, but is administratively autonomous. Kalamazoo is about 12 miles (19 km) south, and Grand Rapids is about 35 miles (56 km) north.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Gun Plain Township.
It grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Otsego Township (B+) comes closest. Otsego Township next door grades higher for schools (A to Gun Plain Township’s B) and lower for cost of living (B− to A−).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gun Plain Township | #178 | A− | A− | — | B | B |
| Plainwell | #372 | B− | B | C+ | B | B− |
| Otsego Township | #217 | B+ | B− | — | A | B− |
| Prairieville Township | #362 | B− | C | — | A− | B |
| Martin Township | #381 | B− | A− | — | B− | C |
| Cooper Township | #400 | B− | C+ | — | B | B |
Gun Plain Township, Otsego Township, Prairieville Township, Martin Township and Cooper Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Gun Plain Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Gun Plain Township grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #178 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B for health and B for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
