Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ishpeming Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $206K for a typical one, or 3.2 years of the Marquette area’s $65K median household income. It grades A− overall, 119th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Ishpeming Township’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the Michigan town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Only 3 of the 270 Michigan towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Ishpeming Township. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 71% of U.S. towns.
Where Ishpeming Township beats most towns.
Where Ishpeming 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 Ishpeming Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 6,039 in 1880, a peak of 13,255 in 1900, 6,140 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and a map from 1954 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Ishpeming 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 Ishpeming Township.
Ishpeming Township has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
For Ishpeming Township, that is below both Michigan’s towns (4.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). 97 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit | 1.4 mi | 511 |
| 2. Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (North) | — | 511 |
| 3. Forests for the Future #16 Reserve | — | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the NICE Community School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Westwood High School, with 383 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspen Ridge Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 721 | B+ |
| Westwood High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 383 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 89% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here fell from 2,234 in 2011 to 677.
Most working residents leave Ishpeming Township for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Ishpeming Township fell to 677 in 2021, 1,557 fewer than in 2011. 4.3% of Ishpeming Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Ishpeming Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The Marquette weather station, 9 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 129 days, shorter than in 95% of U.S. towns. The Marquette weather station, 9 miles away, records that 197 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 100% of U.S. towns.
The July high in Ishpeming Township is 77°F. Ishpeming Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Ishpeming Township’s property crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents. Ishpeming Township's reported crime rate is well below Michigan's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Michigan average. 34% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Ishpeming Township.
| Ishpeming Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
44% women, 56% men
About 125 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.3 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Ishpeming Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.7% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.6% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.4% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.5% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.8% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 17.1% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.5% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,400, single groups can be off by several points
Against the 9,388 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ishpeming Township’s, it is less healthy than 59%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Ishpeming Township beats the Michigan average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Ishpeming Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Ishpeming Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.4% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.2% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ishpeming Township
About 9 of every 100 Ishpeming Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Ishpeming ( ISH-pə-ming) is a city in Marquette County, Michigan, United States. Located in the Upper Peninsula, the population was 6,140 at the 2020 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of a Native American figure, erected in 1884 in the small town square, is referred to as Old Ish. Ishpeming Township is located to the northwest of the city but is administratively autonomous. Ishpeming is considered the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States and is home to the National Ski Hall of Fame. The city was also prominently featured in the 2010 documentary Catfish. The name Ishpeming comes from Ojibwa ishpiming 'above.…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Ishpeming Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishpeming Township | #119 | A− | A | — | B+ | B |
| Powell Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Champion Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ishpeming | #366 | B− | A− | B | B− | C |
| Negaunee Township | #331 | B | C | — | A | B+ |
| Ely Township | — | — | A | — | B+ | C+ |
| Marquette Township | #407 | B− | D | — | A− | B |
| Tilden Township | — | — | A | — | B+ | C+ |
Ely Township and Tilden Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ishpeming Township, Negaunee Township, Ely Township, Marquette Township and Tilden Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Powell Township and Champion Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ishpeming Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Ishpeming Township grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #119 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B for health and B+ for schools.
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.