Is Hayes Township a good place to live?
Hayes Township grades D overall, 640th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $40K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 93% of the country. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $94K for a typical one, or 1.9 years of the county’s $49K median household income. Hayes Township’s average trip to work is 39 minutes, against 25 minutes in Michigan’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. Only 28 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on history.
What makes Hayes Township stand out
Where Hayes Township beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
94% of working residents leave Hayes Township for work
Where Hayes Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Hayes Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Hayes Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 1%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Hayes Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hayes 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Hayes Township.
Hayes Township is a second-home town, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and sends most of its workers to Harrison and beyond.
A larger share of adults report frequent physical distress in Hayes Township than in most of Michigan or the rest of the country
Against the 2,463 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hayes Township’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
19% of adults report frequent physical distress in Hayes Township. Hayes Township beats the Michigan average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18. 26% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Hayes Township.
| Hayes Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 12% |
| What stands out | Hayes Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.5% | 77.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.8% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Hayes Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Hayes Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit | 0.9 mi | 769 |
| 2. Hayes Township Outdoor Park | — | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Hayes Township, the median household income runs lower than in the typical Michigan or U.S. town
Hayes Township has 358 jobs for its 1,241 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 549 in 2011 to 358.
Jobs based in Hayes Township fell to 358 in 2021, 191 fewer than in 2011. Most working residents leave Hayes Township for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Harrison (8%), Mount Pleasant (6%) and Clare (6%).
| Hayes Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $40,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In Hayes Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Hayes Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Hayes Township’s July high is 81°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Hayes Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hayes Township
About 3 of every 100 Hayes Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Hayes Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Hayes Township is a civil township of Clare County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,642 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 32 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,152 ft
Hayes Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Hayes Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayes Township | #640 | D | A | — | C+ | D |
| Frost Township | — | — | B | — | C+ | D |
| Hatton Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenwood Township | — | — | C | — | C+ | D |
| Hamilton Township | — | — | B− | — | B− | D |
Frost Township, Greenwood Township and Hamilton Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Hayes Township, Frost Township, Greenwood Township and Hamilton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Hatton Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hayes Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Hayes Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Hayes Township, MI a good place to live?
Hayes Township grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #640 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D for health and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Hayes Township, MI expensive?
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.