Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,444, organized in 1839.
Marathon Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $186K for a typical one, or 2.4 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. It grades C overall, 530th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $66K, and 11% of residents live below the poverty line. Marathon Township’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, against 25 minutes in Michigan’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Lapeer State Game Area, at 1,158 acres with 2.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Marathon Township beats most towns.
Where Marathon Township’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 Marathon Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 3 maps from 1963 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marathon 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 Marathon Township.
Marathon Township has 132 jobs for its 1,742 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 37.1 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Marathon Township for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Lapeer (9%), Flint (5%) and Detroit (4%). Half commute less than 33 miles.
| Marathon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 14% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.9% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the LakeVille Community School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbiaville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 347 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Marathon Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Marathon Township’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Marathon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lapeer State Game Area | 2.4 mi | 1,158 |
| 2. Holloway Reservoir Regional Park | 0.3 mi | 190 |
| 3. Hilton and Marjorie Tibbits Nature Sanctuary and Land Stewardship Center | — | 120 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Marathon Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 17% of Marathon Township adults smoke cigarettes.
| Marathon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Marathon Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 17.2% | 14.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Marathon Township. Close and well known come first.
38 mi MuseumUSS Edson
18 mi MuseumSloan Museum15 mi MuseumCrossroads Village (Michigan)
18 mi MuseumFlint Institute of Arts
38 mi MuseumSaginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum32 mi Zoo & aquariumChildren's Zoo at Celebration SquareUSS Edson: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flint Institute of Arts: Blueskiesfalling at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum: John McCullough, CC BY-SA 2.5
None within 15 miles of Marathon Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Marathon Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Marathon Township is a civil township of Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,467 at the 2020 Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Marathon Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon Township | #530 | C | A | — | C+ | C+ |
| Oregon Township | #434 | C+ | A | — | B | C+ |
| Deerfield Township | #201 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | C+ |
| Forest Township | #545 | C | B | — | C+ | C |
| Watertown Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | C− |
Watertown Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Marathon Township, Oregon Township, Deerfield Township, Forest Township and Watertown Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Marathon Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Marathon Township grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #530 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
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