Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lapeer gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $270K for a typical one, or 3.5 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 500th of 697 in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 86% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Lapeer’s trail density is 2.5 miles per square mile, above both Michigan’s towns (0.3) and U.S. towns (0.4). On walkability, just 106 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Lapeer has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Lapeer County Courthouse and Joseph Armstrong House.
Where Lapeer beats most towns.
Lapeer County Courthouse
Census counts: 1,772 in 1870, 9,023 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 3 maps from 1963 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Lapeer is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 14%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lapeer, 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 Lapeer.
Lapeer trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Mayfield Township and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
On this, Lapeer is above both the Michigan town median (4.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). 19 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Rowden Park, at 42 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rowden Park | 0.8 mi | 42 |
| 2. Rotary Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 3. Audubon Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Lapeer Community Schools. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lapeer High School, with 1,006 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rolland Warner Campus 67Largest public middle schoolGrades 6–7 | Grades 6–7 | 610 | C+ |
| Lapeer High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 10–12 | Grades 10–12 | 1,006 | B |
| Chatfield SchoolTop results in townGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 483 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
8,133 jobs are based in Lapeer, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Lapeer for work: only 18% work in town. 25% of residents live below the poverty line in Lapeer. Jobs based in Lapeer fell to 8,133 in 2021, 1,121 fewer than in 2011.
| Lapeer | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.9% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 92% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lapeer.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 6,698 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lapeer’s, it is less healthy than 71%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of Lapeer adults smoke cigarettes. Lapeer beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 25% of Lapeer adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Lapeer | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Lapeer | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.1% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 20.1% | 14.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 9.4% | 6.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lapeer has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The violent crime rate in Lapeer is 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Lapeer | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Homes are within reach (about $270K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles.
The typical Lapeer home is worth about $270,000, up 3.7% in a year, close to the Michigan typical home.
| Lapeer | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,002 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lapeer. Close and well known come first.
18 mi MuseumSloan Museum17 mi MuseumCrossroads Village (Michigan)
18 mi MuseumFlint Institute of Arts
38 mi MuseumHolocaust Memorial Center38 mi MuseumSelfridge Military Air MuseumSloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flint Institute of Arts: Blueskiesfalling at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Holocaust Memorial Center: Dave Parker, CC BY 3.0
None within 15 miles of Lapeer; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Lapeer residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
9.9% of the town is conserved land, across 9 parks and preserves.
13 places in Lapeer on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Lapeer.
City in Michigan, United States
Lapeer ( lə-PEER) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 9,023. Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions were also annexed from Mayfield Township and Elba Township. Lapeer is in central Michigan, east of Flint, on the Flint River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Lapeer.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapeer | #500 | C+ | B | C+ | B | D |
| Lapeer Township | #280 | B | B− | A+ | B | C+ |
| Mayfield Township | #337 | B | A− | — | B | C+ |
| Elba Township | #330 | B | B+ | — | B | C+ |
Mayfield Township and Elba Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lapeer with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lapeer grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #500 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Health 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 B.
19 notable people were born here, including Jake Long and Maxx Crosby.
