Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,981 people live in this town in Michigan.
Several subjects drag its grade down. Its weakest is health — residents are less healthy than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Hartford Township ranks 672nd of 697 in Michigan, with a D overall. It comes out better than 9% of U.S. towns. Where it does best is cost of living: a typical home costs about $150K, 2.2 years of the county’s $68K median household income. Incomes are weaker too: the median household income is $55K, and just over one in ten residents live below the poverty line. Only 80 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on the outdoors. Hartford Township's schools rank behind 70% of the state's.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · USGS PAD-US.
Where Hartford 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 Hartford Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 838 in 1880, 2,515 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1991 and 3 maps from 1927 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Hartford 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 Hartford Township.
Among adults 18 to 64 in Hartford Township, 14% have no health insurance. In Hartford Township, 29% of adults say their health is fair or poor, and 22% smoke cigarettes.
| Hartford Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Hartford Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.4% | 10.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 14% | 6.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 26.5% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Hartford Township has 252 jobs for its 1,077 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 582 in 2011 to 252.
For working residents in Hartford Township, the share who work locally is 2.8%. Since 2011, Hartford Township has lost 330 jobs, to 252 in 2021. Its typical journey to work stands at 22 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Lawrence Township (8%), Hartford (6%) and Benton Township (6%).
| Hartford Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $55,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Summer afternoons peak near 83° in July, and January nights bottom out around 18°; snowfall runs to about 78 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Hartford Township’s density of trails stands at 0.1 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Michigan’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Across 1 park or preserve: 2.9 miles of trail.
| Hartford Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 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. Rush Lake Public Access | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On expected storm and flood damage, Hartford Township sits below 58% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1982: one. FEMA puts 48% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 15% to tornadoes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Hartford Township
About 3 of every 100 Hartford Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Hartford is a city in Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Hartford had a population of 2,515. The city is located within Hartford Township, but is politically independent.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Hartford Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford Township | #672 | D | B+ | — | C | D− |
| Keeler Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | D |
| Bangor Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Watervliet Township | #568 | C | B− | — | C+ | D |
| Lawrence Township | #635 | D | B | — | C+ | D |
Keeler Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Hartford Township, Keeler Township, Watervliet Township and Lawrence Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Bangor Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hartford Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hartford Township grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #672 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D− for health and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
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 B+.