Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Manchester’s best subject grades are an A− for health and cost of living and an A for civic life. On health, just 82 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Manchester's schools rank ahead of 75% of Michigan towns. On history, just 65 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Leonard Preserve, at 40 acres. On the outdoors, just 122 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. Manchester has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Manchester beats most towns.
Where Manchester’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 Manchester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,156 in 1880, 2,037 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1856 and 2 maps from 1948 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Manchester, 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 Manchester.
27% of Manchester adults sleep under 7 hours, where Michigan’s towns sit at 34% and U.S. towns at 36%. 17% of adults get no exercise outside work in Manchester. Manchester beats the Michigan average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Manchester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 34% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 25% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 37% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Manchester | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.9% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Manchester home is worth about $371,000, up 3.9% in a year, 40% above the Michigan typical home. At $840 a month, Manchester’s median rent is below both the Michigan town median ($1,046 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Manchester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $840 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Manchester for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Manchester is 33 minutes. Jobs based in Manchester fell to 460 in 2021, 244 fewer than in 2011.
| Manchester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Manchester has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1.6 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Manchester’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Manchester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8.4% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chi-Bro Park | 0.5 mi | 16 |
| 2. Leonard Preserve | 0.1 mi | 40 |
| 3. Carr Park | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Michigan average. 37% of Manchester adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Manchester has lost 2.7% of its people since 2020, down to 2,027 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Manchester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.7 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Manchester | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.6% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19.3% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.7% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.1% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.7% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,000, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Manchester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
22 mi Park & preserveDomino's Farms
22 mi LandmarkYpsilanti Water Tower
18 mi TheatreMichigan Theater
18 mi MuseumUniversity of Michigan Museum of Art
37 mi National park siteRiver Raisin National Battlefield Park134K visitors a yearMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Domino's Farms: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 · Ypsilanti Water Tower: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 · Michigan Theater: mrkumm, CC BY 2.0 · University of Michigan Museum of Art: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · River Raisin National Battlefield Park: Notorious4life (talk), Public domain
None within 15 miles of Manchester; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Manchester residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
5 notable people were born in Manchester.
City in Michigan, United States
Manchester is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,037 at the 2020 census. Settled as early as 1833, Manchester incorporated as a village in 1867. On November 7, 2023, 66 percent of village residents voted in favor of incorporating Manchester as an autonomous city. Manchester officially became a city on November 15, 2023 with the mayor and city councilmembers sworn into office on November 20, 2023.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
64% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
5 notable people were born here, including Frank D. Baldwin and Vernon Orlando Bailey.
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