Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,160.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Peninsula Township grades A− overall, 190th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $138K and its schools outperform 80% of the state's. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $707K, 8.7 years of the Traverse City metro’s $81K median household income. 71% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Peninsula Township, above both Michigan’s towns (26%) and U.S. towns (29%). The biggest park or preserve is Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve, at 2,699 acres. On the outdoors, just 92 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better.
Where Peninsula Township beats most towns.
5,433 counted in 2010 and 6,068 in 2020; an estimated 6,160 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Peninsula Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 11%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2019 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Peninsula 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 Peninsula Township.
Peninsula Township gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, owes part of its health edge to its incomes and pairs an A− for schools with high home prices.
33 miles of trail in 31 parks and preserves. The trail density in Peninsula Township is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Peninsula Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 16% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Old Mission State Park | 13.2 mi | 667 |
| 2. Power Island Wilderness Park | 5.8 mi | 202 |
| 3. Pelizzari Natural Area | 2.8 mi | 63 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $707K.
Its public schools are run by Old Mission Peninsula School. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Mission Peninsula SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 146 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Peninsula Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
31.9% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
4.2% of residents live below the poverty line in Peninsula Township. Jobs based in Peninsula Township grew to 611 in 2021, 112 more than in 2011. Peninsula Township’s average trip to work is 20 minutes.
| Peninsula Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $138,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.1% | 5.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Against the 3,755 U.S. towns with household incomes like Peninsula Township’s, it is less healthy than 78%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Peninsula Township beats the Michigan average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of Peninsula Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Peninsula Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Peninsula Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.7% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.4% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Nw Michigan Rsch Farm weather station, 8 miles away, records that 115 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Peninsula Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 79° and January nights drop to 18°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Peninsula Township
About 4 of every 100 Peninsula Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
16% of the town is conserved land, across 31 parks and preserves.
3 places in Peninsula Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Peninsula Township is a civil township of Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township had a population of 6,068 at the 2020 census, an increase from 5,433 at the 2010 census. Peninsula Township is coterminous with (has the same dimensions as) the Old Mission Peninsula, which projects about 17 miles (27 km) north from its base in Traverse City into Grand Traverse Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan. The peninsula divides the Grand Traverse Bay into an East Arm and West Arm. The peninsula is well known for its cherry harvest and viticulture, and is included in the Old Mission Peninsula AVA, a federally recognized viticultural region. At the northern tip of the peninsula is Miss…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Peninsula Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peninsula Township | #190 | A− | D | — | A− | B+ |
| Traverse City | #305 | B | C− | C+ | A− | B+ |
Peninsula Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Peninsula Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Peninsula Township grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #190 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
