Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Romulus grades D overall, 665th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. Its crime rate is higher than 93% of U.S. towns, with 209 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its public schools trail 78% of Michigan towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. Romulus’ violent crime rate is 8.5 per 1,000 residents, above both the Michigan town median (1.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). Only 24 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score lower on civic life. Romulus has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Saint Rita Apartments and Marwood Apartments.
Where Romulus beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 22,900 in 1970, 25,178 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 8 maps from 1906 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Romulus is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Romulus. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
18 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
9 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
18 mi TheatreFox Theatre
18 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsMichigan 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 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Romulus, 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 Romulus.
Romulus draws workers from Detroit and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports more crime than Taylor and its other graded neighbors.
31,491 jobs are based in Romulus, 3.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Romulus for work: only 13% work in town. 14% of residents live below the poverty line in Romulus. Jobs based in Romulus grew to 31,491 in 2021, 2,801 more than in 2011.
| Romulus | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.4% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Romulus Community Schools. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romulus Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 423 | D |
| Romulus Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 518 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Taylor (D) to Huron Township (B−).
Romulus’ property crime rate is 19.7 per 1,000 residents. Romulus reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities. Since 2014, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Romulus.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Lower Huron Metropark, at 62 acres.
| Romulus | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lower Huron Metropark | 0.9 mi | 62 |
| 2. Elmer Johnson Community Park | 0.2 mi | 27 |
| 3. St. John's Lodge No. 44 Community Park | — | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
44% of Romulus adults sleep under 7 hours. Romulus beats the Michigan average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 15% of Romulus adults binge drink.
| Romulus | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 14% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Romulus | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6.1% | 7% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 18.9% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.7 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $204K) costs less against local pay than in 81% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
The typical Romulus home is worth about $204,000, up 1.6% in a year, 23% below the Michigan typical home.
| Romulus | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,049 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Romulus has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 45 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
5 within 15 miles of the center of Romulus
About 3 of every 100 Romulus residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Where Romulus’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
2 places in Romulus on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Romulus.
City in Michigan, United States
Romulus is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Romulus is located roughly 20 miles (32.2 km) southwest of downtown Detroit, and is most notable as the location of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,178.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Romulus.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Taylor (D) is closest. Huron Township next door grades higher for schools (A− to Romulus’s C−) and lower for cost of living (C− to B).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romulus | #665 | D | B | D | C− | C |
| Taylor | #660 | D | B | D | C− | C− |
| Wayne | #651 | D | B | D | C | C− |
| Huron Township | #449 | C+ | C− | B− | A− | B− |
| Van Buren Township | #605 | C− | C | C | C+ | B− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Romulus grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #665 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.7 years of the area's median household income ($76,664 across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI metro 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.
6 notable people were born here, including John Long and Terry Mills.
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