Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 19,199.
Park Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, 227th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $110K. It also does better than most on health: it is healthier than 76% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $393K, 4.7 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. 55% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Park Township, against 26% in Michigan’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 32 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns do worse. Park Township has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Holland Harbor Lighthouse and Egbert H. Gold Estate.
Where Park Township beats most towns.
6.5% of the town is conserved land, across 16 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Park Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 3 maps from 1929 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Park 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 Park Township.
Park Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, sends most of its workers to Holland and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
32 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. Park Township’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile. Riley Trails, at 262 acres with 5.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Park Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riley Trails | 5.8 mi | 262 |
| 2. Cooper-Van Wieren Park | 5.5 mi | 60 |
| 3. Community Park | 2.4 mi | 71 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the West Ottawa Public School District. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is West Ottawa High School Campus, with 2,187 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waukazoo Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 466 | A |
| West Ottawa High School CampusLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,187 | A− |
| Lakewood Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 293 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Against the 7,074 U.S. towns with household incomes like Park Township’s, it is healthier than 57%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
32% of Park Township adults have high blood pressure. Park Township beats the Michigan average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of Park Township adults report frequent physical distress.
| Park Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Park Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.9% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 6.3% | 8.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 9.2% | 6.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Park Township has 884 jobs for its 8,273 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 3,225 in 2011 to 884.
Most working residents leave Park Township for work: only 2% work in town. The average trip to work in Park Township is 21 minutes. Since 2011, Park Township has lost 2,341 jobs, to 884 in 2021.
| Park Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $110,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The Muskegon Co Ap weather station, 25 miles away, records that 87 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns.
Park Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81° and January nights drop to 19°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Park Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Park Township
About 6 of every 100 Park Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where Park Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
3 places in Park Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Park Township is a civil township of Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 18,625.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Park Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Township | #227 | B+ | C+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Holland · Holland Township | #260 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B | B+ |
| Laketown Township | #149 | A− | C+ | — | A | A− |
| Beechwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Port Sheldon Township | #249 | B+ | C | — | A− | A− |
Park Township, Laketown Township and Port Sheldon Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Beechwood isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Holland Township and Holland are one community, graded once. Compare Park Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools. Walkability 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 C+.
