PaloMI
Today 375 people live in this town, first settled in 1857.
Is Palo a good place to live?
Palo’s typical journey to work is 57 minutes, above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Of the 702 Michigan towns we compare, none has a higher home-ownership rate than Palo. Palo has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
375 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Palo: who provides what
Palo is unincorporated, so Ionia County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Palo.
With only 0.1 jobs per working resident, most people in Palo work out of town
A fifth of residents live below the poverty line in Palo. The top destinations are Ionia (18%), Grand Rapids (10%) and Lowell (6%). Half of commuters travel less than 28 miles.
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The climate in Palo brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 16°, and about 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More of Palo’s adults have been diagnosed with depression than in the typical Michigan or U.S. town
Just over a fifth of Palo adults smoke cigarettes. Palo: just over a fifth of adults report frequent mental distress.
| Palo | Typical Michigan town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Palo | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.5% | 10.2% |
| More smokers | 20.6% | 14.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 11% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The biggest natural risk in Palo is inland flooding, at a moderate overall level
Palo’s risk rating from FEMA is 45 of 100. Just over half of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 19%. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Palo
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Palo
About 9 of every 100 Palo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
100% of working residents leave Palo for work
Where Palo’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Palo
Township in Michigan, United States
Ronald Township is a civil township of Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,861 at the 2020 census. Ronald Township was formed in 1845 from parts of Lyons and Ionia townships, and given its name by state representative A. L. Roof, who said he was inspired by the lead character in a novel he was reading at the time. (This may have been Sir Walter Scott's narrative poem The Lord of the Isles, in which the protagonist is named Ronald.)
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 830 ft
Questions about Palo
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Palo, MI a good place to live?
Palo has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.