Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,651, settled in 1862. 74% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Sidney Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $234K, 2.8 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 602nd of 697 in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $60K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 83% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Sidney Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 96% of U.S. towns. Sidney Township is home to Montcalm Community College.
Where Sidney Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Sidney Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 172 in 1860, a low of 172 in 1860, 2,538 in 2020. The archive holds a map from 1985 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sidney 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Sidney Township.
Sidney Township trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Nearly a fifth of adults in Sidney Township smoke cigarettes; 17% report frequent physical distress. For adults locally, the share who have obesity is 43%.
| Sidney Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Sidney Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.8% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.6% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 18.7% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The largest public high school is Central Montcalm Middle High School, with 739 students. The public schools here belong to the Central Montcalm Public Schools. Of its 4 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Montcalm Upper Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 284 | C |
| Central Montcalm Middle High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 739 | C+ |
| Early College at Montcalm Community CollegeTop results in townGrades 11–12 | Grades 11–12 | 67 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
FEMA puts 51% of Sidney Township’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 17% to tornadoes. Compared with 85% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Stanton State Game Area, at 1,818 acres with 5.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. 13 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Sidney Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.1% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanton State Game Area | 5.5 mi | 1,818 |
| 2. Derby Lake Public Access | — | 1 |
| 3. Pearl Lake Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here grew from 395 in 2011 to 564.
Since 2011, Sidney Township has added 169 jobs, to 564 in 2021. Only 2% of working residents stay in Sidney Township for work; the rest commute out. The median household income for Sidney Township comes to $60,000, against $77,000 in Michigan’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. The top destinations are Greenville (12%), Grand Rapids (10%) and Stanton (5%).
| Sidney Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $60,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 8.3% | 10% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The July high for Sidney Township comes to 82°F, where Michigan’s towns sit at 82°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $234K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles. At 2.8 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income, the typical home (about $234K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 9.6%. Sidney Township’s going rate for rent is $1,294 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sidney Township
About 2 of every 100 Sidney Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Where Sidney Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Township in Michigan, United States
Sidney Township is a civil township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,538 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Sidney Township.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Evergreen Township (C) is closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney Township | #602 | C− | A− | — | C+ | C− |
| Montcalm Township | #339 | B | A | — | A− | C |
| Fairplain Township | — | — | A− | — | B+ | C− |
| Evergreen Township | #513 | C | A | — | C+ | C− |
| Douglass Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | C− |
| Stanton | — | — | A+ | A− | C+ | C− |
| Eureka Township | #110 | A | A | — | A− | C |
Fairplain Township, Douglass Township and Stanton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sidney Township, Montcalm Township, Fairplain Township, Evergreen Township, Douglass Township and Eureka Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sidney Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sidney Township grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #602 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.