Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to Monroe County Community College.
Monroe Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $187K, 2.4 years of the Monroe metro’s $77K median household income. It grades C− overall, 619th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On hazard risk, just 127 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Monroe Township is home to Monroe County Community College. Among 701 Michigan towns, just 10 have a higher July high than Monroe Township.
Where Monroe Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Monroe Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades 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 6 old photos and papers going back to 1817 and 6 maps from 1912 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Monroe 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 Monroe Township.
Monroe Township trails Raisinville Township and its other neighbors on schools, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims and has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
43% of Monroe Township adults have obesity, above both the Michigan town median (37%) and the median of U.S. towns (35%). 20% of Monroe Township adults report frequent mental distress. Monroe Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Monroe Township | 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) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Monroe Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.7% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 17.8% | 14.6% |
| More adults with obesity | 42.5% | 36.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C, Raisinville Township highest at B.
Its public schools are run by the Monroe Public Schools. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Monroe High School, with 1,332 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custer Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 769 | C− |
| Monroe High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 1,332 | B− |
| Monroe County Education CenterTop results in townGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 119 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
5.1 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Stoneco Fields, at 45 acres with 1.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Monroe Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stoneco Fields | 1.2 mi | 45 |
| 2. Waterloo Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Monroe Township has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 20° and about 41 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 6,606 in 2011 to 4,310.
Most working residents leave Monroe Township for work: only 9% work in town. 14% of Monroe Township residents live below the poverty line, above both Michigan’s towns (8.9%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs based in Monroe Township fell to 4,310 in 2021, 2,296 fewer than in 2011.
| Monroe Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 8.4% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 8.6% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
153 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 153 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Monroe Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Monroe Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
36 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
30 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
36 mi TheatreFox Theatre
37 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 Township
About 4 of every 100 Monroe Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
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)
6 towns share a border with Monroe Township.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Frenchtown Township (C−) is closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Township | #619 | C− | B | — | C | C− |
| Monroe | #639 | D | B | C | C | C− |
| La Salle Township | #426 | B− | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Frenchtown Township | #595 | C− | B | — | C+ | C |
| West Monroe | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Raisinville Township | #349 | B | A− | — | B | C |
| South Monroe | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Monroe Township, La Salle Township, Frenchtown Township and Raisinville 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 Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Monroe Township grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #619 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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