Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Rochester earns an A+, 4th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, its schools outperform 96% of the state's, and the median household earns $112K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $495K, 6.5 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rochester, where Michigan’s towns sit at 26% and U.S. towns at 29%. Only 8 of Michigan’s 320 towns score higher on safety. The biggest place to walk is Clinton River Oaks Park, 195 acres with 3.3 miles of trail.
Where Rochester beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Rochester | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.8% | 15.4% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Family Regional School, North | K–3 | 446 |
Its founding year, 1817, comes before those of 97% of the Michigan towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 996 in 1880, 13,035 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 8 maps from 1908 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Rochester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rochester, 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 Rochester.
Rochester has schools in the top 5% of Michigan and trades workers with Troy and other neighbors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Michigan.
At 6.5 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $495K) costs more against local pay than in 97% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $6,047, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
67% of Rochester households own their home. The typical Rochester home is worth about $495,000, up 3.9% in a year, 88% above the Michigan typical home. Rochester’s median rent is $1,350 a month.
| Rochester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,350 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A+ ranks #14 of the 699 Michigan towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $495K.
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Family Regional School, North PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades K–3 | Grades K–3 | 446 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #5 of 701 in Michigan.
The trail density in Rochester is 3.1 miles per square mile. 12 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clinton River Oaks Park | 3.3 mi | 195 |
| 2. Rochester Municipal Park | 2.2 mi | 36 |
| 3. Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve | 1 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Michigan is food insecurity: 6.8% of its 10,363 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide.
9.5% of adults report frequent physical distress in Rochester. Only 9 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Rochester. 14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Rochester.
| Rochester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 25% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Rochester | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.8% | 15.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 82% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Rochester since 2004.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rochester has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rochester has about as many jobs (7,160) as working residents, but only 505 people both live and work here. 27.2% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Rochester for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Rochester grew to 7,160 in 2021, 660 more than in 2011. The top destinations are Troy (10%), Auburn Hills (10%) and Rochester Hills (6%).
| Rochester | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $112,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rochester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
24 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
28 mi LakeLake Saint Clair
27 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
24 mi TheatreFox Theatre
23 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsFord Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
7 within 15 miles of the center of Rochester
About 7 of every 100 Rochester residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
17.1% of the town is conserved land, across 12 parks and preserves.
4 places in Rochester on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Rochester.
City in Michigan
Rochester is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Rochester had a population of 13,035. It is a northern suburb in Metro Detroit located 20 miles north of the city of Detroit. Rochester was the first European settlement in Oakland County when it was founded in 1818. It became part of the Avon Township in 1835 and incorporated as an autonomous city in 1967. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Rochester Hills and also borders Shelby Township to the east.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Rochester.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | #4 | A+ | C− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Rochester Hills | #29 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Shelby Township | #207 | B+ | C− | B+ | A− | B+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Rochester grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #4 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
30 notable people were born here, including Dita Von Teese and Jacob Trouba.
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