Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,132, settled in 1861.
Rockwood is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 185th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $88K. A typical home there costs about $229K, 3 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Deland G Mercure Memorial Park, at 43 acres. Only 10 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a higher January low than Rockwood.
Where Rockwood beats most towns.
Where Rockwood’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 Rockwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 953 in 1930, 3,240 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2020 and 8 maps from 1906 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rockwood, 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 Rockwood.
Rockwood pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Michigan norm, sends most of its workers to Detroit and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rockwood.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Gibraltar School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapman Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 434 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 23 to 13 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
At 0.3 per 1,000 residents, Rockwood’s violent crime rate is below both Michigan’s towns (1.9) and U.S. towns (1.6). The property crime rate in Rockwood is 3.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Rockwood | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Rockwood has 415 jobs for its 1,422 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Rockwood for work: only 3% work in town. At 29 minutes, Rockwood’s average trip to work is above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs based in Rockwood grew to 415 in 2021, 49 more than in 2011.
| Rockwood | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Rockwood has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 20° and about 54 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rockwood grades A− overall with a typical home of about $229K, below the Michigan typical value; only 13 of the 103 Michigan towns graded A− or better can say that. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Flat Rock is next at $264K.
The typical Rockwood home is worth about $229,000, up 3.1% in a year, 13% below the Michigan typical home.
| Rockwood | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,037 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deland G Mercure Memorial Park | — | 43 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
19% of Rockwood adults report frequent mental distress.
| Rockwood | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Rockwood | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with obesity | 32.4% | 36.2% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 70.6% | 68% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rockwood. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
21 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
16 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
21 mi TheatreFox Theatre
39 mi LakeLake Saint ClairMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
None within 15 miles of Rockwood; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Rockwood residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Rockwood is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Downriver suburb of Detroit, Rockwood is located roughly 23 miles (37.0 km) southwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, Rockwood had a population of 3,240.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Rockwood.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Brownstown Township (B) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockwood | #185 | A− | B | A− | B+ | B− |
| Berlin Township | #555 | C | C+ | — | B | C |
| South Rockwood | — | — | B− | — | B | C+ |
| Flat Rock | #414 | B− | B− | B− | B− | B− |
| Brownstown Township | #326 | B | C | B | B+ | B |
South Rockwood has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Berlin Township and South Rockwood report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rockwood with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Rockwood grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #185 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B− for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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