ShieldsMI
Settled in 1894, this town now has 7,402 residents.
Is Shields a good place to live?
29% of residents are 65 or older in Shields, above both the Michigan town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). The biggest park or preserve is Roberts Park, at 48 acres. We don’t grade Shields yet; the figures below are still real.
96% of working residents leave Shields for work
Where Shields’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
USS Edson and 14 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shields. Close and well known come first.
17 mi MuseumUSS Edson
16 mi GardenDow Gardens
34 mi MuseumSloan Museum6 mi Zoo & aquariumChildren's Zoo at Celebration Square
16 mi City parkChippewa Nature Center
7 mi TheatreTemple TheatrePhoto credits
USS Edson: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Dow Gardens: Chris.Schiemann, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chippewa Nature Center: Christian Collins, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Temple Theatre: Ian Poellet, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Moving to Shields: who provides what
Shields is unincorporated, so Saginaw County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Shields.
Shields has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Shields: 13% of residents live below the poverty line. Just 4% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. In Shields, the average trip to work is 23 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 9 miles.
| Shields | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Shields stands out in Michigan and nationally, with the FEMA risk score higher than most
Shields has had 77 paid flood insurance claims since 1986. Expected losses in Shields break down as 67% from inland flooding and 13% from cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Older than Michigan overall
The median age in Shields is 48 years. Among adults 25 and older, 31% have a four-year degree or more, against 32% across Michigan. The share of residents in Shields who are under 18: 17%.
| Shields | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 26% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Shields | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.6% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.1% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.9% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.7% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.6% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.2% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The climate in Shields brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
Expect July afternoons of 83° and January nights of 16°, with about 49 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Shields is
16% of adults report frequent mental distress in Shields. Of 32 CDC measures, Shields beats the Michigan average on 7 and trails it on 3. Among adults locally, 40% have high blood pressure and 83% had a checkup this year.
| Shields | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Shields | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.8% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Protected land: 4.2% of Shields
1.1 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. In Shields, the concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Shields | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Roberts Park | 0.3 mi | 48 |
| 2. Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge | — | 44 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in Shields sells for about $180K
A home in Shields typically sold within 14 days of listing. For Shields, the typical rent is $941 a month. Homes in Shields sold for 97.1% of their list price on average.
| Shields | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $941 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 84% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Shields
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Shields
About 6 of every 100 Shields residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
About Shields
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Shields is an unincorporated community in Thomas Township, Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes, but with no legal status as an incorporated municipality. The population of the CDP was 7,035 at the 2020 census. The community of Shields is located on M-46/Gratiot Road just west of the Tittabawassee River. In the 2000 census, the CDP included an area bounded on the east by the Tittabawassee River, north to State Street, west to N. Miller Road, south to Geddes Road, west to N. Thomas Road, south to M-46/Gratiot Road, east to Swan Creek, south to the railroad crossing on Schomaker Road, east along the rail tracks to St…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 597 ft
Shields’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Shields.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shields | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thomas Township | #401 | B− | C+ | B− | A− | B |
| Saginaw Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| James Township | — | — | B− | — | A | B− |
James Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. James Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Shields and Saginaw Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shields with a neighbor →
Questions about Shields
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Shields, MI a good place to live?
We don’t grade Shields yet; the figures below are still real.