Royalton TownshipMI
A town of 5,198, settled in 1833.
Is Royalton Township a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Royalton Township grades B+ overall, ranked 267th of 697 in Michigan. The median household earns $129K. It is healthier than 79% of U.S. towns and its schools rank ahead of 78% of Michigan towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $357K, 5.5 years of the Niles metro’s $65K median household income. Royalton Township’s median household income is $129,000, where Michigan’s towns sit at $77,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Jasper Dairy Road Boating Access Site, at 106 acres.
What makes Royalton Township stand out
Where Royalton Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Clarke School | K–5 | 462 |
| Hollywood Elementary School | PK–5 | 377 |
| Grace Lutheran School | PK–8 | 219 |
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
94% of working residents leave Royalton Township for work
Where Royalton Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Royalton Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Royalton Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Royalton Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Royalton 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 Royalton Township.
Royalton Township owes part of its health edge to its incomes, has household incomes well above the Michigan norm and has commutes shorter than most of Michigan.
Royalton Township’s grade for health is an A−
Against the 4,679 U.S. towns with household incomes like Royalton Township’s, it is less healthy than 56%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
11% of adults smoke cigarettes in Royalton Township. Royalton Township beats the Michigan average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Royalton Township.
| Royalton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Royalton Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.5% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.3% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Royalton Township’s grade for schools is an A−
Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarke SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 462 | A− |
| Lighthouse Education CenterLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 128 | C− |
| Hollywood Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 377 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Most of Royalton Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.7 jobs for each of them
The average commute for its 1,983 working residents takes 17 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan. Jobs based here grew from 1,017 in 2011 to 1,464.
Most working residents leave Royalton Township for work: only 6% work in town. Royalton Township’s average trip to work is 17 minutes. Jobs based in Royalton Township grew to 1,464 in 2021, 447 more than in 2011.
| Royalton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.9% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Royalton Township has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Royalton Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 19° and about 78 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Royalton Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 47 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Royalton Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Royalton Township has set aside 1.5% of its land for conservation
1.5 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Royalton Township is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Royalton Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jasper Dairy Road Boating Access Site | — | 106 |
| 2. Bicentennial Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Notre Dame Stadium and 14 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Royalton Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaNotre Dame Stadium
33 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
24 mi CaveGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame
11 mi State parkWarren Dunes State Park
17 mi Ancient siteFort St. Joseph
25 mi MuseumStudebaker National MuseumPhoto credits
Notre Dame Stadium: Tysto, Public domain · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Notre Dame: Know1one1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Warren Dunes State Park: hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort St. Joseph: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Studebaker National Museum: Unknown, Public domain
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Everything we know about Royalton Township
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Royalton Township
About 3 of every 100 Royalton Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Royalton Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Royalton Township is a civil township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan, a few miles southeast of the city of St. Joseph. The population was 5,141 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 19 sq mi
- Elevation
- 666 ft
Royalton Township’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Royalton Township.
Oronoko Township next door grades lower for schools (C− to Royalton Township’s A−) and higher for cost of living (B− to C−).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalton Township | #267 | B+ | C− | — | A− | A− |
| Sodus Township | — | — | B | — | D | C− |
| St. Joseph Township | #369 | B− | C | B | B+ | B |
| Fair Plain | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Benton Township | #697 | D− | B− | D− | D− | D− |
| Lincoln Township | #208 | B+ | C | B+ | A | A− |
| Oronoko Township | #523 | C | B− | — | C− | B |
Sodus Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Royalton Township, Sodus Township and Oronoko Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Fair Plain isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Royalton Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Royalton Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Royalton Township, MI a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Royalton Township grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #267 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A− for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Royalton Township, MI expensive?
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−.