Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ithaca gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $196K for a typical one, or 3.1 years of the Alma area’s $64K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 199th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 76% of U.S. towns. 19% of working residents work locally in Ithaca, above both the Michigan town median (5.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Ithaca has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gratiot County Courthouse and Ithaca Downtown Historic District. Ithaca's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Where Ithaca beats most towns.
Gratiot County CourthouseWhere Ithaca’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 Ithaca is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 600 in 1880, 2,853 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 2 maps from 1935 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ithaca, 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 Ithaca.
1,690 jobs are based in Ithaca, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
For residents in Ithaca, the share who live below the poverty line is 17%. Since 2011, Ithaca has lost 377 jobs, to 1,690 in 2021. The top destinations are Alma (10%), St. Louis (7%) and Mount Pleasant (4%). In Ithaca, the middle household income is $63,000.
| Ithaca | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The Ithaca Public Schools runs its public schools. The largest public high school is Ithaca High School, with 442 students. Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 295 | B− |
| Ithaca High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 442 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Ithaca: 22% of adults say their health is fair or poor. Among adults locally, 28% have been diagnosed with depression and 17% smoke cigarettes.
| Ithaca | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Ithaca | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.4% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.4% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.3% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Of the losses FEMA expects in Ithaca, 47% come from inland flooding and 19% from tornadoes. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid in 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2026.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 6.7%. Ithaca’s rent at the middle of the market comes in at $819 a month. Also worth knowing: 72% of households are owner-occupiers locally.
| Ithaca | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $819 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A winter brings about 39 inches of snow, with January nights at 16° and July afternoons at 83°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
College graduates make up just over a quarter of adults 25 and older, against 32% across Michigan. The share of residents in Ithaca who are 65 or older: 15%. Its age of the median resident stands at 42.5 years.
| Ithaca | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.9 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Ithaca | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 6.6% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.9% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.8% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.7% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.5% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.4% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Trails run 0.2 miles in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is McNabb Park, at 122 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. McNabb Park | 0.2 mi | 122 |
| 2. Woodland Park | — | 26 |
| 3. Atkinson Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ithaca
About 8 of every 100 Ithaca residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
2 places in Ithaca on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Ithaca.
City in Michigan, United States
Ithaca is a city and the county seat of Gratiot County, Michigan. It is located very near the geographical center of the state's lower peninsula. The population was 2,853 as of the 2020 census. Ithaca is run as a council-manager government. It sits at the conjunction of four townships in the center of the county: Emerson Township to the northeast, Arcada Township to the northwest, Newark Township to the southwest, and North Star Township to the southeast, but is administratively autonomous.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Ithaca.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca | #199 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | C |
| North Star Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Emerson Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Newark Township | — | — | B+ | — | B | C+ |
| Arcada Township | — | — | B+ | — | B | C+ |
Newark Township and Arcada Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Ithaca, Newark Township and Arcada Township report no FBI crime data of their own. North Star Township and Emerson Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ithaca with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Ithaca grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #199 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C 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−.
5 notable people were born here, including Chris Patrick and James M. Swift.
