Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,255.
Howard Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $200K, 3 years of the South Bend metro’s $67K median household income. It grades B− overall, 359th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. On the outdoors, just 103 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Howard Township’s median age is 50.7 years, above both the Michigan town median (42.5 years) and the median of U.S. towns (40.5 years). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 81% of U.S. towns.
Where Howard Township beats most towns.
Where Howard 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 Howard Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 6,309 in 2000, 6,275 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1945 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Howard Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
38 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
11 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
6 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
22 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
13 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumNotre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort St. Joseph: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Warren Dunes State Park: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Studebaker National Museum: Unknown, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Howard 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 Howard Township.
Howard Township sends many workers across the state line to South Bend, but it has little public open land.
41% of working residents cross a state line to work, South Bend among the top destinations. Howard Township has 449 jobs for its 2,593 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Howard Township for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2011, Howard Township has added 77 jobs, to 449 in 2021. 5.7% of Howard Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Howard Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Niles Community Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| HowardEllis Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 529 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Howard Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Howard Township.
| Howard Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Howard Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.3% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 16.9% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Howard Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 63 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Just 32 of its 22,456 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Howard Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.3 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pepper Martin Park | — | 14 |
| 2. Wilding Plant Preserve | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
8 within 15 miles of the center of Howard Township
About 4 of every 100 Howard Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Howard Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,275 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Howard Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Township | #359 | B− | A− | — | B− | C |
| Niles | #560 | C | B+ | C− | B− | C− |
| Jefferson Township | #321 | B | B | — | A− | C |
| Milton Township | #212 | B+ | B | — | A− | C |
| Pokagon Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | C− |
| Niles Township | #505 | C+ | B | — | B | C |
Pokagon Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Howard Township, Jefferson Township, Milton Township, Pokagon Township and Niles Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Howard Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Howard Township grades B− overall, better than 55% of U.S. towns and #359 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
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