Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3.4 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Trash day: look up yoursFor most people who can afford it, yes. Marquette grades B overall, 310th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. Natural-hazard risk is low. Its public schools beat 80% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $342K, 5.2 years of the Marquette area’s $65K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 13 places on the National Register. 56% of working residents work locally in Marquette, where Michigan’s towns sit at 5.9% and U.S. towns at 8%. On walkability, just 14 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Marquette Unit, at 4,996 acres.
Where Marquette beats most towns.
Call House
Census counts: 136 in 1850, 20,629 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 3 maps from 1907 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Marquette is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marquette, 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 Marquette.
Marquette is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Chocolay Township and beyond and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns.
Marquette’s trail density is 4.2 miles per square mile. 81 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves.
| Marquette | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 4.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Presque Isle Park | 5.9 mi | 205 |
| 2. Tourist Park | 0.7 mi | 43 |
| 3. Marquette Unit | 0.3 mi | 4,996 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $342K.
Its public schools are run by the Marquette Area Public Schools. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Marquette Senior High School, with 940 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bothwell Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 696 | A− |
| Marquette Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 940 | A− |
| Graveraet Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 289 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
12,801 jobs are based in Marquette, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 13.2 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
The average trip to work in Marquette is 13 minutes. Since 2011, Marquette has lost 1,978 jobs, to 12,801 in 2021. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Marquette.
| Marquette | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 13 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.6% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Marquette since 1999.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values rose 47% in five years, to about $342K, against 24% across Michigan.
46% of Marquette households own their home. Typical home values rose 9% in the year to September 2026.
| Marquette | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 46% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,011 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Marquette weather station records that 102 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 97% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 76.1°, cooler than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 11.2°.
Marquette has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Only 6 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a lower July high than Marquette.
| Marquette | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 76°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 11°F | 16°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 7,616 U.S. towns with household incomes like Marquette’s, it is healthier than 89%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Marquette beats the Michigan average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Marquette | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Marquette | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 9.6% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.1% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Marquette
College town 25 of every 100 Marquette residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
3.6% of the town is conserved land, across 25 parks and preserves.
13 places in Marquette on the National Register of Historic Places.
23 notable people were born in Marquette.
City in the United States
Marquette ( mar-KET) is the county seat of Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shipping iron ore (hematite, magnetite) from the Marquette Iron Range. The city is partially surrounded by Marquette Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Marquette is named after Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary who had explored the Great Lakes region. Marquette had a population of 20,629 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Michigan north of the Tri-Cities. It is the third-largest American city on Lake Superior, behind Duluth, Minneso…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Marquette.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette | #310 | B | C− | B+ | A− | B |
| Marquette Township | #407 | B− | D | — | A− | B |
| Trowbridge Park | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sands Township | — | — | B+ | — | C | B− |
| Harvey | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sands Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Marquette Township and Sands Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Trowbridge Park and Harvey aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Marquette with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Marquette grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #310 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
23 notable people were born here, including Sallie W. Chisholm and John Lautner.
