Sanborn Township, MI location
Sanborn Township’s story
Sanborn Township in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1971 on.
Explore the history →
Sanborn TownshipMI
A town of 2,099.
4 bordering townsMap →
PEWABIC (propeller) Shipwreck Site · Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Public domain
Population
2,099
2025 Census estimate · +0.7% since 2020
Median home value
$156K
Census ACS
Household income
$62K
median
Median age
44.0
years
Jobs based here
156
A commuter town
Is Sanborn Township a good place to live?
The best of Sanborn Township’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and civic life; the weakest is a D for incomes. Sanborn Township’s July high is 78°F, against 82°F in Michigan’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. 17% of the land in Sanborn Township is conserved, above both Michigan’s towns (4.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest park or preserve is Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, at 3,731 acres. Sanborn Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Sanborn Township stand out
Where Sanborn Township beats most towns.
A commuter town
99% of working residents leave Sanborn Township for work
Where Sanborn Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
156jobs based in Sanborn Township
1%of working residents work in town
13 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2021
How Sanborn Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Sanborn Township is from typical.
Hazard riskinland flooding tops the listAOpen →Jobs & income$62K median household incomeDOpen →Cost of livingTypical home $156K, 2.9 years of the Alpena area’s $54K median household incomeA−Open →HealthMymichigan Medical Center Alpena 12.5 miles awayC+Open →SchoolsC+Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 3.9 of 20; 5.4% of households have no car; 6.2% of workers walk, bike or ride transitC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
The full setup list →Moving to Sanborn Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sanborn Township, and how to reach them.
PowerDTE20.2¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
Internet5 providers75% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & dumpNot on file yetWe don’t have Sanborn Township’s trash rules yet
Register to voteOnlineIn Michigan you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereSanborn Township ClerkThe town itself; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Nov 2025
ZIP codes49766, 4876249766 92% · 48762 8%Census 2020
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 Sanborn Township.
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A
Compared with most of Michigan and the rest of the country, the FEMA risk score in Sanborn Township is lower
The FEMA risk score in Sanborn Township is 3 of 100.
3risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingCold waves
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
SchoolsC+
Sanborn Township’s schools rank behind 58% of Michigan districts
Its public schools are run by the Alpena Public Schools. Its one school is below.
42%of MI districts it outscoresC+School Grade
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanborn ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 201 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
Most of Sanborn Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.2 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Sanborn Township for work: only 1% work in town. Sanborn Township’s average trip to work is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Sanborn Township grew to 156 in 2021, 40 more than in 2011.
1%work in town
| Sanborn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
In Sanborn Township1%
Alpena36%
Alpena Township21%
Hillman Township2%
Green Township1%
13 mi
median commute distance
156
jobs based in Sanborn Township
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C+
Walkability grade: more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
OutdoorsA−
Sanborn Township has set aside 16.6% of its land for conservation
13 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves.
16.6%conserved
16.6%
conserved · 5,238 of 31,623 acres
13 mi
of trails · 0.3 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mackinac State Forest - Atlanta Unit | 1.2 mi | 3,088 |
| 2. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary | — | 3,731 |
| 3. Bird Island Nature Sanctuary | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Climate
In Sanborn Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Sanborn Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 78°, January nights drop to 14° and about 59 inches of snow falls in a winter.
59″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter16–31°
Spring31–50°
Summer55–76°
Fall40–57°
Oct 17
typical first frost
May 5
typical last frost
+1.9°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
HealthC+
On CDC estimates, Sanborn Township is less healthy than 64% of U.S. towns
Sanborn Township beats the Michigan average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 40% of Sanborn Township adults have high blood pressure.
36%healthier than U.S. townsC+Health Grade
| Sanborn Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
32 measures vs. Michigan
4 better23 too close to call5 worse
| What stands out | Sanborn Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.3% | 8.9% |
Mymichigan Medical Center Alpena
12.5 mi away · emergency room
2 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Sanborn Township
17pages on Sanborn Township
The big questions
Out and about
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sanborn Township
About 3 of every 100 Sanborn Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Sanborn Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Sanborn Township is a civil township of Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,084 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 50 sq mi
- Elevation
- 676 ft
Sanborn Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Sanborn Township.
Alpena TownshipOssineke TownshipCaledonia TownshipAlcona TownshipSanborn Township
How the neighbors grade
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanborn Township | — | — | A− | — | C+ | C+ |
| Alpena Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ossineke Township | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | C− |
| Caledonia Township | — | — | B− | — | C+ | C |
| Alcona Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sanborn Township, Ossineke Township and Caledonia Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sanborn Township, Ossineke Township and Caledonia Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Alpena Township and Alcona Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sanborn Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Sanborn Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Sanborn 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 A−.