Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Monroe earns a D, 639th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. Residents are less healthy than 84% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its crime rate is higher than 75% of U.S. towns, with 118 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. What it does well: it has 12 miles of trail. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 11 places on the National Register. Monroe’s level of violent crime is 5.9 per 1,000 residents, above both the Michigan town median (1.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). Only 41 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include River Raisin Battlefield Site (Boundary Increase) and Gov. Robert McClelland House.
Where Monroe beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1817, comes before those of 97% of the Michigan towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,703 in 1840, 20,462 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1817 and 6 maps from 1912 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Monroe is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Monroe, 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 Monroe.
Monroe trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and has milder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Michigan, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Michigan (mostly inland flooding).
The biggest place to walk is Wm. C. Sterling State Park, 495 acres with 1.3 miles of trail. For Monroe, the trail network density is 1.2 miles per square mile. Also worth knowing: 21 parks and preserves cover 939 acres in the town.
| Monroe | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wm. C. Sterling State Park | 1.3 mi | 495 |
| 2. Ford Marsh | 1.2 mi | 215 |
| 3. River Raisin National Battlefield Park | 0.7 mi | 42 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Monroe Public Schools runs its public schools. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 2 public schools serve Monroe, with 906 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 674 | B+ |
| Orchard Center High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 260 | D |
| Manor Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 444 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
The share of adults in Monroe who feel lonely: 34%. In Monroe, a fifth of adults report frequent mental distress, and 18% smoke cigarettes.
| Monroe | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Monroe | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.2% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 18.4% | 14.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 10.7% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate for Monroe comes to 11.3 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Michigan towns, with expected losses of about $355 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Monroe, 72% come from inland flooding and 10% from tornadoes. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1978: 62. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2023.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 20.5°, the #2 highest of 1,983 Michigan places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.4°.
Only one of the 701 Michigan towns we compare has a higher January low than Monroe. About 41 inches of snow falls in a winter. Its July high is 83°F.
| Monroe | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 21°F | 16°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Monroe has about as many jobs (8,871) as working residents, but only 1,294 people both live and work here.
For most workers, Monroe is a place to come home to: only 17% work in town. Among residents locally, 19% live below the poverty line. The town had 8,871 jobs in 2021, up 604 from 2011. The average commute locally is 21 minutes.
| Monroe | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 6.8% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $221K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 22 miles.
For households in Monroe, the share who live in a home they own is 69%. Typical home values rose 5.5% in the year to September 2026. Homes sold in Monroe spent a median 34 days on the market.
| Monroe | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 69% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $909 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Monroe. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
34 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
28 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
34 mi TheatreFox Theatre
35 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Monroe
About 3 of every 100 Monroe residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
9.3% of the town is conserved land, across 21 parks and preserves.
11 places in Monroe on the National Register of Historic Places.
25 notable people were born in Monroe.
City in Michigan, United States
Monroe is the largest city in Monroe County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,462 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Monroe is the core city in the Monroe metropolitan area, which is coterminous with Monroe County and had a population of 154,809 in 2020. On the western shores of Lake Erie about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Toledo, Ohio, and 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Detroit, the city is part of the Detroit–Ann Arbor–Flint combined statistical area. The Monroe area was the scene of several military conflicts during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom and is…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Monroe.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | #639 | D | B | C | C | C− |
| Frenchtown Township | #595 | C− | B | — | C+ | C |
| Monroe Township | #619 | C− | B | — | C | C− |
| West Monroe | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Monroe | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Frenchtown Township and Monroe Township report no FBI crime data of their own. West Monroe and South Monroe aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Monroe with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Monroe grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #639 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health, C for safety and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($77,335 across the Monroe, 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 B.
25 notable people were born here, including Christie Brinkley and Elisha P. Ferry.
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