Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Reading Township’s best subject grade is a B for cost of living; its weakest is a D for health. On the outdoors, just 27 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Reading Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Reading Township beats most towns.
Where Reading 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 Reading Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 871 in 1880, 1,094 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1915 and 2 maps from 1960 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Reading 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 Reading Township.
A quarter of Reading Township adults say their health is fair or poor. In Reading Township, just over two in five adults have high blood pressure, above both the Michigan town median (36%) and the median of U.S. towns (35%).
| Reading Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Reading Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.7% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.2% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 20.4% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The mean commuting time for Reading Township comes to 29 minutes, against 25 minutes in Michigan’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The town had 54 jobs in 2021, down 38 from 2011. In Reading Township, 17% of residents live below the poverty line. Half of commuters travel less than 15 miles.
| Reading Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
It has had 7 paid flood insurance claims since 2009. Reading Township’s FEMA hazard score comes in at 28 of 100. Expected losses in Reading Township break down as 55% from inland flooding and 18% from tornadoes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reading Township’s midsummer high stands at 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For residents in Reading Township, the share who are 65 or older is 23%. Adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). In Reading Township, the midpoint age is 49.3 years. Here, a quarter of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 32% in Michigan as a whole.
| Reading Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.3 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 26% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 61% are men (MI 42%).
| Reading Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.6% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.2% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.3% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.1% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.4% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.6% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Long Lake Public Access | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Reading Township. Close and well known come first.
30 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic
38 mi MuseumAuburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum33 mi Zoo & aquariumBinder Park Zoo
36 mi GardenHidden Lake Gardens
9 mi GardenSlayton ArboretumAmerican Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum: Michael Walter, a.k.a. Cuppysfriend, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hidden Lake Gardens: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 · Slayton Arboretum: Brother Atticus, CC0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Reading Township
About 3 of every 100 Reading Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Reading ( RED-ing) is a city in Hillsdale County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,095 at the 2020 census. Located along M-49, the city is surrounded by Reading Township, but the two are administered autonomously.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Reading Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Township | — | — | B | — | B− | D |
| Cambria Township | #522 | C | B+ | — | B− | C− |
| Camden Township | — | — | B | — | B− | D |
| Allen Township | — | — | A− | — | B | D |
| Algansee Township | — | — | B− | — | B | C− |
Reading Township, Camden Township, Allen Township and Algansee Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Reading Township, Cambria Township, Camden Township, Allen Township and Algansee Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Reading Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
