Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,291. Public schools that outperform most of Michigan.
Olive Township is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 12th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. The median household earns $80K, its schools outperform 82% of the state's, and homes are within reach, about $284K for a typical one, or 3.4 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. Its lowest mark, an A−, is in health. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Only 107 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score lower on civic life. Olive Township’s average trip to work is 19 minutes, below both Michigan’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes).
Where Olive Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Olive Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,691 in 2000, 5,007 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1866 and 3 maps from 1929 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Olive 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 Olive Township.
Olive Township pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has more than doubled its jobs in ten years.
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $284K.
Its public schools are run by Ottawa Area ISD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Olive Christian School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–7 | Grades PK–7 | 99 | – |
| Sheldon Pines SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 23 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
15 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Pigeon Creek Park, at 577 acres with 11.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Olive Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pigeon Creek Park | 11.7 mi | 577 |
| 2. Olive Township State Game Area | 1.1 mi | 245 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Olive Township.
| Olive Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Olive Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.6% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.8% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Muskegon Co Ap weather station, 20 miles away, records that 87 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns.
Olive Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82° and January nights drop to 19°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 1,349 in 2011 to 3,472.
Most working residents leave Olive Township for work: only 6% work in town. 2.6% of Olive Township residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Olive Township grew to 3,472 in 2021, 2,123 more than in 2011.
| Olive Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.6% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.3% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
3 within 15 miles of the center of Olive Township
About 3 of every 100 Olive Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Olive Township is a civil township of Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,007 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Olive Township.
At #12 in MI, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Blendon Township (A+) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Township | #12 | A+ | A− | — | A− | A− |
| Port Sheldon Township | #249 | B+ | C | — | A− | A− |
| Holland Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Robinson Township | #50 | A | B+ | — | A | A− |
| Blendon Township | #27 | A+ | C+ | — | A | A |
Olive Township, Port Sheldon Township, Robinson Township and Blendon Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Holland Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Olive Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Olive Township grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #12 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A− for health and A− 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−.