Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Howell's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades A−, 183rd among Michigan's 697 graded towns. Its public schools beat 80% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. 54% of households own their home in Howell, where Michigan’s towns sit at 84% and U.S. towns at 73%. Only 124 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score higher on history. The biggest park or preserve is Howell City Park, at 20 acres.
Where Howell beats most towns.
Ann Arbor Railway Station
Census counts: 473 in 1850, 10,068 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1990 and 4 maps from 1907 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Howell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Howell, 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 Howell.
Howell draws workers from Marion Township and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more.
7,525 jobs are based in Howell, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Howell for work: only 12% work in town. Howell’s average trip to work is 30 minutes. The top destinations are Ann Arbor (6%), Genoa Township (5%) and Brighton (4%).
| Howell | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Howell Public Schools. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlander Way Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 789 | B+ |
| Howell High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,964 | B+ |
| Pathway SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 55 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Howell.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Howell home is worth about $384,000, up 2.5% in a year, 45% above the Michigan typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Howell | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Howell City Park | 0.2 mi | 20 |
| 2. Northwest Fields and Playground | 0.1 mi | 15 |
| 3. Page Athletic Field | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,049 U.S. towns with household incomes like Howell’s, it is healthier than 92%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its B+, from Oceola Township (A−) to Genoa Township (A−).
Howell beats the Michigan average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 31% of Howell adults have high blood pressure.
| Howell | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 36% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 12% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Howell | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.9% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.3% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Howell has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 105 to 57 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 11 reported in 2025, 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Howell is 4.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Howell | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.7 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Adults 18 to 34 are 28% of residents (22% statewide); children under 18 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Howell | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 26% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Howell | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.4% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.6% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.2% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.3% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.7% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.3% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1 within 15 miles of the center of Howell
About 6 of every 100 Howell residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where Howell’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
5 places in Howell on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Howell.
City in Michigan, United States
Howell is the largest city in and the county seat of Livingston County, Michigan, United States. The population was 10,068 at the 2020 census. The city is mostly surrounded by Howell Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Howell is part of the South Lyon–Howell–Brighton urban area, which is an extension of the larger Detroit–Warren–Dearborn (Metro Detroit) metropolitan statistical area. As of 2022, the largest industries were manufacturing, health care & social assistance, and accommodation & food services.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Howell.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howell · Howell Township | #183 | A− | C | B+ | A− | B+ |
| Oceola Township | #170 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Marion Township | #210 | B+ | C | — | A− | A− |
| Genoa Township | #187 | A− | C− | — | A | A− |
Oceola Township, Marion Township and Genoa Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Howell Township and Howell are one community, graded once. Compare Howell with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Howell grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #183 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools.
That is 5 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 C.
15 notable people were born here, including Myles Amine and Deborah Ochs.
