Riley TownshipMI
A town of 2,028, settled in 1851. 37% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Riley Township a good place to live?
Riley Township’s best subject grades are an A− for schools and incomes and an A for civic life; its weakest is a D for walkability. 95% of households own their home in Riley Township, above both the Michigan town median (84%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). Homes are within reach, about $277K for a typical one, or 3.8 years of the Lansing metro’s $73K median household income. Only 74 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on the outdoors. Riley Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Riley Township stand out
Where Riley Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Riley Elementary School | PK–5 | 299 |
| St. Peter Lutheran Church & School | PK–8 | 56 |
99% of working residents leave Riley Township for work
Where Riley Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Riley Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Riley Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Riley Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Riley 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 Riley Township.
On state tests, Riley Township’s schools beat 82% of Michigan districts
Its public schools are run by the St. Johns Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 299 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Riley Township ranks healthier than 76% of the country’s towns
Riley Township beats the Michigan average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of Riley Township adults sleep under 7 hours, against 34% in Michigan’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 21% of adults get no exercise outside work in Riley Township.
| Riley Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 25% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Riley Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.4% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.1% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Riley Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.1 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Riley Township for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2011, Riley Township has added 48 jobs, to 89 in 2021. 4.9% of Riley Township residents live below the poverty line.
| Riley Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 16% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Riley Township
Riley Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 50 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer young adults than Michigan overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 42% of residents (38% statewide). 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan. The median age in Riley Township is 44 years.
| Riley Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 44 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.3 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Riley Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.8% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.9% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.4% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.1% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.7% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.3% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.9% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,000, single groups can be off by several points
Riley Township faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Riley Township has set aside 3.2% of its land for conservation
1.4 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum and 9 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riley Township. Close and well known come first.
14 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
35 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
14 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park Zoo
12 mi MuseumR. E. Olds Transportation Museum
14 mi GardenW. J. Beal Botanical Garden
12 mi MuseumImpression 5 Science CenterPhoto credits
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · R. E. Olds Transportation Museum: kennethaw88, CC BY 4.0 · W. J. Beal Botanical Garden: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Impression 5 Science Center: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Riley Township
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Riley Township
About 2 of every 100 Riley Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Riley Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Riley Township is a civil township of Clinton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,020 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 781 ft
Riley Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Riley Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Township | — | — | B+ | — | A− | A− |
| Westphalia Township | — | — | A− | — | A | A− |
| Bengal Township | — | — | B | — | A | B |
| Watertown Township | #252 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Olive Township | #93 | A | B+ | — | A− | A− |
Riley Township, Westphalia Township and Bengal Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Riley Township, Westphalia Township, Bengal Township, Watertown Township and Olive Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Riley Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Riley Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Riley Township, MI a good place to live?
37% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Riley Township, MI expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.