Jefferson TownshipCass County, MI
A town of 2,581.
Is Jefferson Township a good place to live?
Jefferson Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $269K for a typical one, or 4 years of the South Bend metro’s $67K median household income. It grades B overall, 321st of 697 graded towns in Michigan. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 83% of Michigan towns. On hazard risk, just 69 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. Only 55 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on the outdoors.
What makes Jefferson Township stand out
Where Jefferson Township beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Jefferson Township for work
Where Jefferson Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Jefferson Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Jefferson Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for walkability (better than 9%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Notre Dame Stadium and 15 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Jefferson Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
14 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
36 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
11 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
28 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
17 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumPhoto credits
Notre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Air Zoo: User:my name, 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
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Moving to Jefferson Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jefferson 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Jefferson Township.
Jefferson Township pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and sends many workers across the state line to South Bend, but it has little public open land.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Jefferson Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Jefferson Township since 2016.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For schools, Jefferson Township earns an A−
Its A− for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $269K.
Its public schools are run by the Cassopolis Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cassopolis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 281 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Most working residents commute out of Jefferson Township
45% of working residents cross a state line to work, South Bend among the top destinations. Jefferson Township has 261 jobs for its 993 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Jefferson Township for work: only 1% work in town. 14% of Jefferson Township residents live below the poverty line, against 8.9% in Michigan’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Since 2011, Jefferson Township has added 80 jobs, to 261 in 2021.
| Jefferson Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
On CDC estimates, Jefferson Township is less healthy than 72% of U.S. towns
Jefferson Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 40% of Jefferson Township adults have high blood pressure, above both Michigan’s towns (36%) and U.S. towns (35%). 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Jefferson Township.
| Jefferson Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Jefferson Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.2% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.1% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.3% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Jefferson Township
Jefferson Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 0.9% of Jefferson Township
Just 213 of its 22,901 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Jefferson Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.4 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Jefferson Township
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Jefferson Township
About 4 of every 100 Jefferson Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Jefferson Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Jefferson Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,590 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 869 ft
Jefferson Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Jefferson Township.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Ontwa Township (B) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Township | #321 | B | B | — | A− | C |
| Howard Township | #359 | B− | A− | — | B− | C |
| Calvin Township | — | — | A− | — | C | C |
| Ontwa Township | #340 | B | C+ | B | A | C |
| LaGrange Township | #484 | C+ | A− | — | C | C |
Calvin Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Jefferson Township, Howard Township, Calvin Township and LaGrange Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Jefferson Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Jefferson Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Jefferson Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Jefferson Township grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #321 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Jefferson Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.