Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kalamazoo Township grades D overall, 667th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, mostly because of safety. It reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, including 157 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. Kalamazoo Township’s violent crime rate is 6.4 per 1,000 residents, above both the Michigan town median (1.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). On civic life, just 36 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns do worse.
Where Kalamazoo Township beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,290 in 1840, 73,598 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1854 and 5 maps from 1916 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo Township.
Kalamazoo Township is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more and has more than doubled its jobs in ten years.
Reported crimes fell from 945 to 729 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Kalamazoo Township’s property crime rate is 23.4 per 1,000 residents. Kalamazoo Township reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Kalamazoo Public Schools. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| KingWestwood Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 531 | A+ |
| Kalamazoo Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,613 | A− |
| Hillside Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 476 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 24 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kalamazoo Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 3,378 in 2011 to 6,957.
Most working residents leave Kalamazoo Township for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Kalamazoo Township grew to 6,957 in 2021, 3,579 more than in 2011. The average trip to work in Kalamazoo Township is 21 minutes.
| Kalamazoo Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 13% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Kalamazoo Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 65 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 29% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 34% of residents (38% statewide). 37% of Kalamazoo Township adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Kalamazoo Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 35.6 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Kalamazoo Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 15.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.2% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.9% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.8% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.2% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 8,463 U.S. towns with household incomes like Kalamazoo Township’s, it is healthier than 64%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
30% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Kalamazoo Township. Kalamazoo Township beats the Michigan average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 40% of adults have obesity in Kalamazoo Township.
| Kalamazoo Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Kalamazoo Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.4% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6% | 7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10.9% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.2 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Glenn Allen Island Preserve | — | 15 |
| 2. Bow in the Clouds Preserve | — | 9 |
| 3. Stroud Family Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kalamazoo Township. Close and well known come first.
6 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
13 mi MuseumGilmore Car Museum87K visitors a year
2 mi MuseumKalamazoo Institute of Arts24 mi Zoo & aquariumBinder Park Zoo
34 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic
2 mi MuseumKalamazoo Valley MuseumAir Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gilmore Car Museum: Kevin S. Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: 72elyod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · American Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kalamazoo Valley Museum: Cody Hough, CC BY-SA 3.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Kalamazoo Township
About 9 of every 100 Kalamazoo Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in the United States
Kalamazoo ( KAL-ə-mə-ZOO) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan area in southwestern Michigan, which had a population of 261,670 in 2020. One of Kalamazoo's most notable features is the Kalamazoo Mall, an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall. The city created the mall in 1959 by closing part of Burdick Street to automobile traffic, although two of the mall's four blocks have been reopened to auto traffic since 1999. Kalamazoo is home to Western Michigan University, a large public university, Kalamazoo College, a private liberal arts coll…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Kalamazoo Township.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Oshtemo Township (C) is closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo Township | #667 | D | C+ | D | C | C+ |
| Kalamazoo | #675 | D | C+ | D− | C | C |
| Eastwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Parchment | — | — | B− | — | C+ | B− |
| Westwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Comstock Township | #493 | C+ | C+ | — | C | C+ |
| Oshtemo Township | #567 | C | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Comstock Northwest | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Parchment has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Parchment, Comstock Township and Oshtemo Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Eastwood, Westwood and Comstock Northwest aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Kalamazoo Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kalamazoo Township grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #667 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
