Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Today 2,205 people live in this town, first settled in 1885.
Trash day: look up yoursIronwood Township’s best subject grades are an A− for cost of living and an A for the outdoors; its weakest is a C− for health. 33% of residents are 65 or older in Ironwood Township, above both the Michigan town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). On hazard risk, just 125 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. 26% of the land in Ironwood Township is conserved, above both Michigan’s towns (4.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Gogebic County Forest, at 13,746 acres with 35.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. On the outdoors, just 56 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Ironwood Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Ironwood Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Ironwood Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,745 in 1890, a peak of 15,739 in 1920, 5,045 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ironwood 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 Ironwood Township.
Ironwood Township has had one paid flood insurance claim since 2016. On expected storm and flood damage, Ironwood Township sits below 90% of U.S. communities. 45% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 33%. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2002.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its one school is below. Public schools: Ironwood Area Schools of Gogebic County.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gogebic Co Community EducationLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 45 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
The share of adults in Ironwood Township who had a checkup this year: 82%. The town beats the Michigan average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. Among adults in the town, 17% report frequent physical distress and 15% have diabetes.
| Ironwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Ironwood Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.5% | 77.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.5% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
College graduates make up 31% of adults 25 and older, against 32% across Michigan. In Ironwood Township, the median age is 53.7 years. 17% of residents are under 18 in the town.
| Ironwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 53.7 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 26% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 59% are men (MI 42%).
| Ironwood Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.9% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.8% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 6.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 22.3% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.5% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 29.7% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 17.8% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.1% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
In Ironwood Township, the density of trails is 1.9 miles per square mile. Trails run 332 miles in 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ottawa National Forest - Bessemer Ranger District | 40.6 mi | 12,543 |
| 2. Gogebic County Forest | 35.8 mi | 13,746 |
| 3. Mount Zion Park | 1.8 mi | 41 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Ironwood Township: 12% of residents live below the poverty line. Only 8% of working residents stay in Ironwood Township for work; the rest commute out. For Ironwood Township, the average commute is 18 minutes. Also worth knowing: jobs in Ironwood Township grew by 107 from 2011 to 2021, reaching 365.
| Ironwood Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The seasons in Ironwood Township: cold, snowy winters, pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 77°, January nights drop to 5° and about 186 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ironwood Township
About 5 of every 100 Ironwood Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where Ironwood Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
City in Michigan, United States
Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan, situated on the same line of longitude (90.2 degrees West) as Clinton, Iowa, and St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 census, down from 5,387 at the 2010 census. The city is bordered by Ironwood Township to the north, but the two are administered autonomously. While originally an iron mining town, the area is now known for its downhill skiing resorts, including Big Powderhorn, Snowriver, Mount Zion and Whitecap as well…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Ironwood Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ironwood Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | C− |
| Wakefield Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bessemer Township | — | — | A− | — | B | C− |
| Ironwood | #375 | B− | A | B+ | B− | D |
Ironwood Township and Bessemer Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ironwood Township and Bessemer Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Wakefield Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ironwood Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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−.