Little Traverse TownshipMI
A town of 2,622. 2.9 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Little Traverse Township a good place to live?
Little Traverse Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $345K for a typical one, or 4.4 years of the Petoskey area’s $78K median household income. It grades A overall, ranked 92nd of 697 in Michigan. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 84% of Michigan towns. Little Traverse Township’s concentration of trails is 2.2 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Little Traverse Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 108 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better.
What makes Little Traverse Township stand out
Where Little Traverse Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Harbor Light Christian School | PK–12 | 218 |
Little Traverse Township has grown 10% since 2010
2,380 counted in 2010 and 2,657 in 2020; an estimated 2,622 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Little Traverse Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Little Traverse Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Little Traverse Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Little Traverse 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 Little Traverse Township.
Little Traverse Township pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, is a second-home town and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns.
Little Traverse Township has set aside 10.4% of its land for conservation
Trails run 44 miles in 32 parks and preserves. Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, at 878 acres with 9.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Little Traverse Township: 32, covering 2,261 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit | 9.9 mi | 878 |
| 2. Offield Family Viewlands Working Forest Reserve | 5.6 mi | 319 |
| 3. Offield Family Working Forest Reserve | 4.7 mi | 390 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For schools, Little Traverse Township earns an A−
That grade comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $345K.
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor Light Christian School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 218 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Little Traverse Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Since 2026, one flood insurance claim has been paid in Little Traverse Township. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 92% of U.S. communities.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A larger share of adults in Little Traverse Township had a checkup this year than in the typical Michigan or U.S. town
The share of adults in Little Traverse Township who say their health is fair or poor is 17%, below both the Michigan town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (19%). Little Traverse Township: 4.8% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Of 32 CDC measures, Little Traverse Township beats the Michigan average on 13 and trails it on 3.
| Little Traverse Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Little Traverse Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.3% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.4% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.7% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with most of Michigan and the rest of the country, a typical July afternoon in Little Traverse Township is cooler
The Petoskey weather station, 6 miles away, records that 124 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. The Petoskey weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns.
The seasons in Little Traverse Township: cold, snowy winters, pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 76° and January nights drop to 15°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A job hub: Little Traverse Township has 1.4 jobs for every working resident and draws in 1,335 commuters
The average commute for its 1,006 working residents takes 17.8 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan. Jobs based here grew from 767 in 2011 to 1,410.
The median commute is under 6 miles. Jobs in Little Traverse Township grew by 643 from 2011 to 2021, reaching 1,410. Just 7% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. The town’s average commute is 18 minutes.
| Little Traverse Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.8% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 14% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Everything we know about Little Traverse Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Little Traverse Township
About 5 of every 100 Little Traverse Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
44 miles of trails in Little Traverse Township
10.4% of the town is conserved land, across 32 parks and preserves.
About Little Traverse Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Little Traverse Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,657 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 20 sq mi
- Elevation
- 735 ft
Little Traverse Township’s neighbors
7 towns share a border with Little Traverse Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Traverse Township | #92 | A | B | — | A− | B+ |
| Harbor Springs | — | — | C | A− | A− | A− |
| Pleasantview Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bear Creek Township | #197 | B+ | C− | — | A | A− |
| West Traverse Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Conway | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Littlefield Township | #392 | B− | B | — | B− | B− |
| Maple River Township | — | — | B− | — | B | C+ |
Harbor Springs, West Traverse Township and Maple River Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Little Traverse Township, Bear Creek Township, West Traverse Township, Littlefield Township and Maple River Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Pleasantview Township and Conway aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Little Traverse Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Little Traverse Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Little Traverse Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Little Traverse Township grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #92 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and A− for schools.
Is Little Traverse 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.