Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,191, settled in 1853. 5.8 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Leland Township’s best subject grades are an A for schools, an A− for health, and an A+ for civic life; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. 35% of residents are 65 or older in Leland Township, against 19% in Michigan’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Only 81 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on cost of living. 21% of the land in Leland Township is conserved, above both the Michigan town median (4.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, at 17,847 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. On civic life, just 1 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns do better. Leland Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Leland Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Leelanau Montessori Public School Academy | PK–6 | 71 |
| Leland Public School | PK–12 | 421 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Leland Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2011.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Leland 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 Leland Township.
The typical Leland Township home is worth about $1,244,000, up 6.8% in a year, 5 times the Michigan typical home. 92% of households own their home in Leland Township.
| Leland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 92% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,204 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Leland Public School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Leland Public School, with 421 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leelanau Montessori Public School AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 71 | B |
| Leland Public SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 421 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
13% of Leland Township adults report frequent mental distress. Only 9 of the 702 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Leland Township. 15% of Leland Township adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Leland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Leland Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.7% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 14.3% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness | 31.5 mi | 14,350 |
| 2. Houdek Dunes Natural Area | 4 mi | 326 |
| 3. Clay Cliffs Natural Area | 1.5 mi | 113 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Leland Township’s July high is 75°F. Leland Township has chilly, snowy winters and cool summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average trip to work in Leland Township is 17 minutes. The top destinations are Traverse City (18%), Garfield Township (7%) and Suttons Bay Township (6%). The median household income in Leland Township is $93,000.
| Leland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Leland Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Leland Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
5 places in Leland Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Leland ( LEE-lənd) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Leelanau County, part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula of the state. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 410. From 1883 to 2004, Leland was the county seat of Leelanau County, which has since moved to Suttons Bay Township. Part of Leland Township, Leland is situated on an isthmus between Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan, and is bisected by the Leland River, flowing from the former to the latter. Leland is a significant tourism destination and summer colony, and is located nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Leland also serves as the depart…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Leland Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leland Township | — | — | C− | — | A | A− |
| Centerville Township | — | — | B− | — | A | A− |
| Suttons Bay Township | #424 | B− | C+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Leelanau Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Cleveland Township | — | — | B− | — | A | B+ |
| Lake Leelanau | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Leland Township, Centerville Township, Leelanau Township and Cleveland Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Leland Township, Centerville Township, Suttons Bay Township, Leelanau Township and Cleveland Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lake Leelanau isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Leland Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
5.8 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Yes. That is 15.4 years of the area's median household income ($80,889 across the Traverse City, MI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
