Rutland TownshipMI
A town of 4,308, settled in 1862.
Is Rutland Township a good place to live?
Rutland Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $339K for a typical one, or 4.1 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. It grades B overall, 289th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 25% of the land in Rutland Township is conserved, above both the Michigan town median (4.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. Barry State Game Area, at 4,896 acres with 6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Rutland Township stand out
Where Rutland Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
95% of working residents leave Rutland Township for work
Where Rutland Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Rutland Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Rutland Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rutland Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rutland 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 Rutland Township.
Rutland Township earns an A− for the outdoors
Count the trails in 8 parks and preserves and they come to 12 miles. The trail density for Rutland Township comes to 0.3 miles per square mile, close to both Michigan’s towns (0.3) and U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barry State Game Area | 6 mi | 4,896 |
| 2. Heath Road Preserve | — | 159 |
| 3. Edger Waterfowl Production Area | — | 150 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rutland Township’s public schools outperform 69% of Michigan districts
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lighthouse AcademyBarry County Community BuildingLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 15 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Top of a very low hazard risk in Rutland Township: inland flooding
FEMA puts 58% of Rutland Township’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 20% to tornadoes. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in just over four fifths of U.S. communities. Since 1982, Rutland Township has seen 6 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rutland Township has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs in Rutland Township grew by 76 from 2011 to 2021, reaching 1,094. Only 5% of working residents stay in Rutland Township for work; the rest commute out. The top destinations are Hastings (15%), Grand Rapids (12%) and Thornapple Township (7%).
| Rutland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $88,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.6% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.1% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Rutland Township earns a B+ for cost of living
Homes are within reach (about $339K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 20 miles.
The typical Rutland Township home is worth about $339,000, up 5.6% in a year, 29% above the Michigan typical home. The share of households in Rutland Township who own their home: 88%. In Rutland Township, the median rent is $1,108 a month.
| Rutland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,108 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Fewer young adults than Michigan overall
The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Rutland Township at 4,308 residents, up 4.2% since 2020. Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 46% of residents (38% statewide). In Rutland Township, the age of the median resident is 45.2 years. A bachelor’s degree or higher: nearly a quarter of adults 25 and older, vs 32% across Michigan.
| Rutland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.2 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 26% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Rutland Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.4% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 22% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.3% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.1% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,300, single groups can be off by several points
Expect snowy winters and pleasant summers in Rutland Township
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 17°, and about 68 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rutland Township is healthier than 52% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Rutland Township, 34% sleep under 7 hours. This Michigan town beats the Michigan average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Rutland Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rutland Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.9% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.7% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Rutland Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Rutland Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Rutland Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Rutland Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Rutland Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutland Township | #289 | B | B+ | — | B+ | B− |
| Hastings | #315 | B | A− | C | B+ | B− |
| Hope Township | #131 | A− | A | — | B | B− |
| Yankee Springs Township | #202 | B+ | B− | — | A− | B+ |
| Hastings Township | #229 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | B− |
| Irving Township | #233 | B+ | B− | — | A− | B |
Rutland Township, Hope Township, Yankee Springs Township, Hastings Township and Irving Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rutland Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Rutland Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rutland Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Rutland Township grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #289 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B− for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Rutland 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+.