Ontwa TownshipMI
A town of 6,839. Public schools that outperform most of Michigan.
Is Ontwa Township a good place to live?
Ontwa Township grades B overall, ranked 340th of 697 in Michigan, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools rank ahead of 93% of Michigan towns and natural-hazard risk is low. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $61K. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 71% of the country. A typical home there costs about $250K, 3.7 years of the South Bend metro’s $67K median household income. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 89% of U.S. towns.
What makes Ontwa Township stand out
Where Ontwa Township beats most towns.
91% of working residents leave Ontwa Township for work
Where Ontwa Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Ontwa Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Ontwa Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Notre Dame Stadium and 12 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ontwa Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
12 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
40 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
11 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
29 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
14 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumPhoto credits
Notre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Air Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort St. Joseph: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Warren Dunes State Park: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Studebaker National Museum: Unknown, Public domain
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Moving to Ontwa Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ontwa 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Ontwa Township.
Ontwa Township sends many workers across the state line to Mishawaka, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has better schools than Milton Township or any other neighbor.
Ontwa Township earns an A for schools
Its A is the best School Grade on its borders; Milton Township (A−) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Edwardsburg Public Schools. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Edwardsburg High School, with 773 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edwardsburg Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 612 | A− |
| Edwardsburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 773 | A |
| Edwardsburg Intermediate SchoolTop results in townGrades 4–5 | Grades 4–5 | 361 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Ontwa Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 89% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Ontwa Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.6 jobs for each of them
58% of working residents cross a state line to work, Mishawaka among the top destinations. Jobs based here grew from 1,019 in 2011 to 1,831.
Most working residents leave Ontwa Township for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Ontwa Township grew to 1,831 in 2021, 812 more than in 2011. The top destinations are Elkhart (22%), Mishawaka (8%) and South Bend (8%).
| Ontwa Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $61,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.7% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Ontwa Township earns a C for health
Against the 9,233 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ontwa Township’s, it is less healthy than 56%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Ontwa Township, above both the Michigan town median (27%) and the median of U.S. towns (23%). 18% of Ontwa Township adults smoke cigarettes. Ontwa Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Ontwa Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Ontwa Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 17.9% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.9% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Ontwa Township has four seasons and pleasant summers
Ontwa Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Less crime per resident in Ontwa Township than in 63% of U.S. towns
Reported crimes fell from 75 to 51 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ontwa Township’s violent crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents, where Michigan’s towns sit at 1.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6.
| Ontwa Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2.3% of Ontwa Township is conserved land
1.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Ontwa Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Ontwa Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Vernon and Velma Radebaugh Memorial Plant Preserve | — | 4 |
| 2. Mueler Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Gunn Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Ontwa Township
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Ontwa Township
About 2 of every 100 Ontwa Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Ontwa Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Ontwa Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,904 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 21 sq mi
- Elevation
- 797 ft
Ontwa Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Ontwa Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontwa Township | #340 | B | C+ | B | A | C |
| Mason Township | #465 | C+ | B | — | A− | C |
| Jefferson Township | #321 | B | B | — | A− | C |
| Milton Township | #212 | B+ | B | — | A− | C |
Mason Township, Jefferson Township and Milton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Ontwa Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Ontwa Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Ontwa Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Ontwa Township grades B overall, better than 57% of U.S. towns and #340 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health, B for safety and A for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Ontwa Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.