Penn TownshipMI
A town of 1,768, settled in 1871.
Is Penn Township a good place to live?
The best of Penn Township’s subject grades is a B+ for civic life; the weakest is a C− for walkability. Only 122 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on cost of living. Penn Township's public schools trail 74% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. The biggest park or preserve is Crane Pond State Game Area, at 153 acres. Penn Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Penn Township stand out
Where Penn Township beats most towns.
95% of working residents leave Penn Township for work
Where Penn Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Penn Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Penn Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Penn Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Penn 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 Penn Township.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Penn Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Older than Michigan overall
People 65 and older are 32% of residents (19% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (22% statewide). Penn Township’s median age is 51.1 years, where Michigan’s towns sit at 42.5 years and U.S. towns at 40.5 years. 37% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Penn Township.
| Penn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.1 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 26% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.3 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Penn Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.4% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 24.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.9% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.2% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.6% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.8% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,800, single groups can be off by several points
Most of Penn Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.6 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Penn Township for work: only 5% work in town. Penn Township’s average trip to work is 34 minutes, above both Michigan’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2011, Penn Township has added 158 jobs, to 411 in 2021.
| Penn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Penn Township has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Penn Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 41 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
On CDC estimates, Penn Township is less healthy than 65% of U.S. towns
Penn Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 41% of Penn Township adults have high blood pressure.
| Penn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Penn Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 8.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.5% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.8% of Penn Township is conserved land
2.1 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Penn Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Penn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crane Pond State Game Area | 0.5 mi | 153 |
| 2. Milo Barnes Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Napolean Fields Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Notre Dame Stadium and 15 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Penn Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
28 mi Theme parkAir Zoo
23 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
19 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
34 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
25 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumPhoto credits
Notre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Air Zoo: User:my name, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, 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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Everything we know about Penn Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Penn Township
About 2 of every 100 Penn Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Penn Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Penn Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,755 at the 2020 census. Penn Township is the location of the Bonine House, a lookout post on the Underground Railroad, on the corner of M-60 and Penn Road. Vandalia, located within Penn Township, also was affiliated with the Underground Railroad.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 35 sq mi
- Elevation
- 889 ft
Penn Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Penn Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Township | — | — | C− | — | C | C |
| Newberg Township | — | — | B | — | B | C+ |
| LaGrange Township | #484 | C+ | A− | — | C | C |
| Volinia Township | — | — | B | — | B | C |
| Calvin Township | — | — | A− | — | C | C |
Penn Township, Newberg Township, Volinia Township and Calvin Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Penn Township, Newberg Township, LaGrange Township, Volinia Township and Calvin Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Penn Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Penn Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Penn Township, MI expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.