Plainfield TownshipIosco County, MI
A town of 3,353.
Is Plainfield Township a good place to live?
Plainfield Township's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C, ranked 558th of 697 in Michigan. It has 128 miles of trail and 44% conserved land. Its weakest subject is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 88% of the country. 39% of residents are 65 or older in Plainfield Township, against 19% in Michigan’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Huron National Forest, 29,483 acres with 105.4 miles of trail. Only 55 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on history.
What makes Plainfield Township stand out
Where Plainfield Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
Plainfield Township has shrunk 12% since 2010
3,799 counted in 2010 and 3,350 in 2020; an estimated 3,353 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Plainfield Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Plainfield Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 13%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Plainfield Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainfield 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 Plainfield Township.
Plainfield Township is a second-home town, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Michigan and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Plainfield Township has set aside nearly a third of its land for conservation
Its 30,434 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of Michigan towns.
128 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in Plainfield Township is 1.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Huron National Forest | 105.4 mi | 29,483 |
| 2. Loon Lake Nature Park | 0.9 mi | 136 |
| 3. Westgate Overlook | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Plainfield Township’s public schools outperform 70% of Michigan districts
Its public schools are run by the Hale Area Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hale Area School, with 347 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hale Area SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 347 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Plainfield Township
168 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 29 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 95% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 168 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plainfield Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More of Plainfield Township’s adults have diabetes than in the typical Michigan or U.S. town
Against the 6,475 U.S. towns with household incomes like Plainfield Township’s, it is less healthy than 73%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
17% of adults have diabetes in Plainfield Township. Among 701 Michigan towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Plainfield Township. 40% of adults have obesity in Plainfield Township.
| Plainfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 36% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Plainfield Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.6% | 15.9% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.6% | 77.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 14.3% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Plainfield Township has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs based here fell from 588 in 2011 to 382.
Most working residents leave Plainfield Township for work: only 13% work in town. 16% of Plainfield Township residents live below the poverty line. Since 2011, Plainfield Township has lost 206 jobs, to 382 in 2021.
| Plainfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Plainfield Township
Plainfield Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Plainfield Township’s July high is 81°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Plainfield Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Plainfield Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Plainfield Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
128 miles of trails in Plainfield Township
44.5% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
About Plainfield Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Plainfield Township is a civil township of Iosco County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,350 at the 2020 census, down from 3,799 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 108 sq mi
- Elevation
- 850 ft
- Area code
- 989
Plainfield Township’s neighbors
7 towns share a border with Plainfield Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield Township | #558 | C | B− | — | B+ | D |
| Oscoda Township | #479 | C+ | B+ | B | B+ | D |
| Hill Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Goodar Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reno Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wilber Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grant Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Curtis Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | D |
Hill Township, Grant Township and Curtis Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Plainfield Township, Hill Township, Grant Township and Curtis Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Goodar Township, Reno Township and Wilber Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Plainfield Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Plainfield Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Plainfield Township, MI a good place to live?
Plainfield Township grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #558 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Plainfield Township, MI expensive?
The typical home is worth about $174,000. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.