Leighton TownshipMI
A town of 7,374, settled in 1854.
Is Leighton Township a good place to live?
Leighton Township's standout: the median household earns $104K. Overall it grades A−, ranked 142nd of 697 in Michigan. Its schools outperform 83% of the state's and natural-hazard risk is low. On the outdoors, just 49 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Only 7 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of residents 65 or older than Leighton Township.
What makes Leighton Township stand out
Where Leighton Township beats most towns.
Leighton Township has grown 49% since 2010
4,934 counted in 2010 and 7,001 in 2020; an estimated 7,374 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.2% since 2020, after 41.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Leighton Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Leighton Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Leighton Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Leighton 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 Leighton Township.
Leighton Township owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has little public open land.
For schools, Leighton Township earns an A−
Its public schools are run by the Caledonia Community Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Ridge ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 303 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Leighton Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Leighton Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Leighton Township for work: only 6% work in town. 2.9% of Leighton Township residents live below the poverty line, below both Michigan’s towns (8.9%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2011, Leighton Township has added 380 jobs, to 1,675 in 2021.
| Leighton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $104,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 10% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Compared with most of Michigan and the rest of the country, more of Leighton Township’s residents are under 18
30% of Leighton Township residents are under 18, where Michigan’s towns sit at 21% and U.S. towns at 22%. The median age in Leighton Township is 36.6 years. Leighton Township has grown 5.2% since 2020, to 7,374 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Leighton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 30% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 36.6 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 26% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Leighton Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.6% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.2% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.7% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.5% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Leighton Township ranks healthier than 67% of the country’s towns
Against the 8,001 U.S. towns with household incomes like Leighton Township’s, it is less healthy than 54%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Leighton Township beats the Michigan average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 19% of Leighton Township adults binge drink.
| Leighton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Leighton Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.3% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7% | 8.7% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.6% | 15.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Leighton Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Leighton Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 78 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 0% of Leighton Township
Just 5 of its 22,640 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Leighton Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.7 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. George Schrotenboer Memorial Park | — | 16 |
| 2. Green Lake Public Access | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and 13 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Leighton Township. Close and well known come first.
17 mi MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
20 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
17 mi MuseumFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
34 mi Theme parkAir Zoo16 mi TheatreAcrisure Amphitheater
15 mi Theme parkRamona ParkPhoto credits
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Staff of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Public domain · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: User Jeffness on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Air Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ramona Park: Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Leighton Township
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Leighton Township
About 2 of every 100 Leighton Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
94% of working residents leave Leighton Township for work
Where Leighton Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Leighton Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Leighton Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,001 at the 2020 census, up from 4,934 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 879 ft
Leighton Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Leighton Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leighton Township | #142 | A− | C+ | — | A− | B+ |
| Wayland | #82 | A | B | — | A− | C+ |
| Dorr Township | #171 | A− | B− | — | A− | B+ |
| Wayland Township | #155 | A− | B | — | A− | B− |
| Thornapple Township | #75 | A | B | — | A− | B+ |
| Gaines Township | #44 | A | C+ | — | A+ | A− |
Leighton Township, Wayland, Dorr Township, Wayland Township, Thornapple Township and Gaines Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Leighton Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Leighton Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Leighton Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Leighton Township grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #142 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Leighton 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 C+.