Orleans TownshipMI
A town of 2,758, settled in 1868.
Is Orleans Township a good place to live?
Orleans Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $262K, 3.2 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 468th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 76% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Flat River State Game Area, at 1,535 acres.
What makes Orleans Township stand out
Where Orleans Township beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Orleans Township for work
Where Orleans Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Orleans Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Orleans Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Orleans Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orleans 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 Orleans Township.
Orleans Township trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and sends most of its workers to Grand Rapids and beyond.
Orleans Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Orleans Township’s grade for health is a C−
19% of adults smoke cigarettes in Orleans Township, against 15% in Michigan’s towns and 14% across U.S. towns. 42% of Orleans Township adults have obesity. Orleans Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Orleans Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Orleans Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.8% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 18.5% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Orleans Township
Orleans Township has 329 jobs for its 1,168 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Orleans Township for work: only 1% work in town. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Orleans Township, above both the Michigan town median (8.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs based in Orleans Township grew to 329 in 2021, 262 more than in 2011.
| Orleans Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In Orleans Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Orleans Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 15° and about 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 6.3% of Orleans Township
1.8 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Orleans Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Orleans Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Flat River State Game Area | 0.1 mi | 1,535 |
| 2. Long Lake Public Access | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Orleans Township’s grade for cost of living is an A
Homes are within reach (about $262K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 24 miles. 80.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 50.4% across Michigan.
The median rent in Orleans Township is $821 a month. Typical home values rose 5.6% in the year to September 2026.
| Orleans Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $821 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 84% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Orleans Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Orleans Township
About 2 of every 100 Orleans Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Orleans Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Orleans Township is a civil township of Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,664 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 856 ft
Orleans Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Orleans Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans Township | #468 | C+ | A | — | B− | C− |
| Otisco Township | — | — | A− | — | C+ | C |
| Easton Township | #421 | B− | A | — | B | C |
| Fairplain Township | — | — | A− | — | B+ | C− |
| Ronald Township | — | — | A+ | — | B− | C− |
Otisco Township, Fairplain Township and Ronald Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Orleans Township, Otisco Township, Easton Township, Fairplain Township and Ronald Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Orleans Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Orleans Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Orleans Township, MI a good place to live?
Orleans Township grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #468 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Orleans Township, MI expensive?
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.