Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hazel Park grades C overall, 539th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, its schools rank behind 89% of the state's. 12% of residents are 65 or older in Hazel Park, below both the Michigan town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%).
Where Hazel Park beats most towns.
Where Hazel Park’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 Hazel Park is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 17,770 in 1950, a peak of 25,631 in 1960, 14,983 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1976 and 8 maps from 1905 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hazel Park. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
9 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
9 mi TheatreFox Theatre
13 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
7 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsFord Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Michigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hazel Park, 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 Hazel Park.
Hazel Park is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it trails Royal Oak and its other neighbors on schools.
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Royal Oak highest at A−.
Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hazel Park High School, with 567 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Park Junior High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 413 | C− |
| Hazel Park High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 567 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
At 2 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $154K) costs less against local pay than in 95% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. Values fell 3.4% in the past year while the Michigan typical home rose 3.8%.
The typical Hazel Park home is worth about $154,000, 42% below the Michigan typical home. 66% of Hazel Park households own their home.
| Hazel Park | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,314 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Hazel Park since 1981.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Hazel Park for work: only 4% work in town. 15% of workers work from home in Hazel Park. The top destinations are Detroit (13%), Troy (8%) and Warren (7%).
| Hazel Park | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 362 to 251 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Hazel Park is 14 per 1,000 residents.
| Hazel Park | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hazel Park has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Hazel Park’s median age is 37.5 years. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Hazel Park | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.5 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 26% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Hazel Park | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.3% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.5% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19.5% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.8% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.1% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.1% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 10,219 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hazel Park’s, it is healthier than 70%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Hazel Park beats the Michigan average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Hazel Park | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hazel Park | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 23.8% | 29.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.7% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scout Park | 0.4 mi | 7 |
| 2. Green Acres Park | — | 17 |
| 3. Karam Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
18 within 15 miles of the center of Hazel Park
About 3 of every 100 Hazel Park residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
4 notable people were born in Hazel Park.
City in Michigan, United States
Hazel Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Hazel Park borders Detroit to the north, roughly 10 miles (16.1 km) north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,983. Hazel Park was incorporated as a city in 1941 and bills itself as The Friendly City. From 1949 to 2018, it was the site of the Hazel Park Raceway, considered a high-quality facility originally used for both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. From 1985 on, the track ran only harness races. After 1996, it also provided simulcasts of races year round from across North America, with betting allowed on these races at the track facilities.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Hazel Park.
Royal Oak next door grades higher for schools (A− to Hazel Park’s D) and lower for cost of living (C− to B).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Park | #539 | C | B | C | D | B− |
| Ferndale | #396 | B− | C+ | C | C− | A |
| Warren | #612 | C− | C+ | C− | B | C− |
| Madison Heights | #303 | B | B− | C | B− | B+ |
| Detroit | #680 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Royal Oak | #74 | A | C− | B | A− | A+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hazel Park grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #539 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B− for health, C for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2 years of the area's median household income ($76,664 across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro 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.
4 notable people were born here, including Steve Fraser and Myles Jury.
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