Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.9 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town. Home to 1,671 people, the town was settled in 1855.
Trash & recyclingPentwater Township’s best subject grades are an A for schools and an A+ for civic life and the outdoors. 53% of residents are 65 or older in Pentwater Township, against 19% in Michigan’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. No town among the 702 in Michigan we compare has a higher midpoint age than Pentwater Township. Pentwater Township is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns. 19% of the land in Pentwater Township is conserved, above both the Michigan town median (4.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). On civic life, just 29 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns do better. Pentwater State Game Area, at 1,539 acres with 4.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Pentwater Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Pentwater Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Pentwater Public School | PK–12 | 226 |
Where Pentwater Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Pentwater Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1910.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pentwater 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 Pentwater Township.
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Pentwater Public School District. Also worth knowing: 226 students attend Pentwater Township’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pentwater Public SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 226 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
On expected storm and flood damage, Pentwater Township sits below 82% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 55% come from inland flooding and 29% from strong winds.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Between 2011 and 2021, jobs in Pentwater Township rose by 26, to 197. For most workers, Pentwater Township is a place to come home to: only 7% work in town. In Pentwater Township, the average trip to work is 19 minutes. Half commute less than 32 miles.
| Pentwater Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In Pentwater Township, the trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile. Trails run 19 miles in 9 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves locally: 9, covering 1,628 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pentwater State Game Area | 4.3 mi | 1,539 |
| 2. Charles Mears State Park | 3.1 mi | 52 |
| 3. West Michigan Underwater Preserve | — | 21 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Pentwater Township’s midsummer high stands at 78°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
29% of adults in Pentwater Township sleep under 7 hours; 43% have high blood pressure. The town beats the Michigan average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. In Pentwater Township, 13% of adults smoke cigarettes.
| Pentwater Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Pentwater Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.4% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.4% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.7% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Pentwater Township; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Pentwater Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Village in Michigan, United States
Pentwater is a village in Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 890 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Pentwater Township. Pentwater is home to Mears State Park. The name Pentwater comes from Pent or Penned up waters. The entrance to the channel is notoriously shallow and for many years dictated the size of vessels that the village was able to accommodate.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Pentwater Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentwater Township · Pentwater | — | — | C+ | — | A | B |
| Weare Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Golden Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Summit Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Pentwater Township, Weare Township and Golden Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Pentwater Township, Weare Township and Golden Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Summit Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Pentwater and Pentwater Township are one community, graded once. Compare Pentwater Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
2.9 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.