Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Settled in 1823, this town now has 14,671 residents.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Its standout strength is health (A+): it is healthier than 97% of U.S. towns. With an A overall, Southfield Township is better than 93% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 46th of 697 in Michigan. Add incomes to its strengths (A+): the median household earns $185K. The catch is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $544K, 7.1 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Only 69 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score higher on civic life. This Michigan town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Franklin Historic District and Franklin Historic District (Boundary Increase).
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Southfield Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Bingham Farms Elementary School | PK–5 | 362 |
| Beverly Elementary School | K–5 | 296 |
| Greenfield Elementary School | PK–5 | 248 |
Its founding year, 1823, comes before those of 94% of the Michigan towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 31,531 in 1960, 76,618 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1970 and 8 maps from 1907 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Southfield Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 13%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Southfield Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
17 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
15 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
17 mi TheatreFox Theatre
30 mi LakeLake Saint ClairMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Saint Clair: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
Who provides power, water and the rest in Southfield 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 Southfield Township.
Southfield Township has schools in the top 5% of Michigan, draws workers from Detroit and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of Michigan.
In 8 parks and preserves, walkers have 12 miles of trail. Southfield Township’s concentration of trails stands at 1.5 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest place to walk is Beverly Park, 34 acres with 1.7 miles of trail.
| Southfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Beverly Park | 1.7 mi | 34 |
| 2. Douglas Evans Nature Preserve | 1.3 mi | 26 |
| 3. Birmingham Schools Environmental Center | 0.8 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ ranks #16 of the 699 Michigan towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $544K.
Of its 8 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. The public schools here belong to the Birmingham Public Schools. The 4 public schools in Southfield Township teach 1,601 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 695 | A− |
| Wylie E Groves High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,108 | A+ |
| Beverly Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 296 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Michigan is tooth loss: 3.8% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 10.2% statewide. Against the 1,256 U.S. towns with household incomes like Southfield Township’s, it is healthier than 74%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Southfield Township who smoke cigarettes is 7.6%, below both the Michigan town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 12% of Southfield Township adults say their health is fair or poor. Only 10 of the 701 Michigan towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Southfield Township. Against the Michigan average, Southfield Township comes out ahead on 27 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1.
| Southfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.6% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Southfield Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 3.8% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12,054 jobs are based in Southfield Township, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 28.7% of workers work from home, against 13.5% across Michigan.
Among 701 Michigan towns, just 9 have a higher share of workers working from home than Southfield Township. The share of residents in Southfield Township who live below the poverty line: 4.7%. Jobs based in Southfield Township grew to 12,054 in 2021, 2,521 more than in 2011. Just 5% of the town’s working residents have a job in town.
| Southfield Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 29% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $185,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
The natural-hazard score from FEMA in Southfield Township is 22 of 100. Expected losses in Southfield Township break down as 54% from inland flooding and 25% from tornadoes. Flood insurance has paid out on 3 claims in the town since 2020.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
18 within 15 miles of the center of Southfield Township
About 4 of every 100 Southfield Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Where Southfield Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
City in Michigan, United States
Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Southfield lies roughly 15 miles (24.1 km) northwest of downtown Detroit. The city had a population of 76,618 at the 2020 census. Southfield home to multiple business districts, including the Southfield City Centre (an edge city which contains the tallest building in Detroit's suburbs) and the area surrounding the former Northland Center shopping mall. It is also home to Lawrence Technological University. The city was originally part of Southfield Township before incorporating in 1958. The autonomous city of Lathrup Village is an enclave within Southfield. Southfield is also a historic cen…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Southfield Township.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A; Bloomfield Township (A) is closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southfield Township | #46 | A | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Southfield | #615 | C− | C− | D | C+ | B− |
| Beverly Hills | #21 | A+ | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Bingham Farms | — | — | D | — | A+ | A |
| Franklin | #37 | A | C− | B+ | A+ | A |
| Bloomfield Township | #42 | A | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
Bingham Farms has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Southfield Township and Bingham Farms report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Southfield Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Southfield Township grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #46 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A+ for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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