Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sparta Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $232K for a typical one, or 2.8 years of the Grand Rapids metro’s $83K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 151st of 697 in Michigan. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. The biggest park or preserve is Sparta Nature Trail, at 100 acres.
Where Sparta Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Sparta Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 507 in 1880, 4,244 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 3 maps from 1918 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sparta 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 Sparta Township.
Sparta Township’s FEMA hazard score stands at 22 of 100, close to Michigan’s towns (25 of 100) and below U.S. towns (44 of 100). Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 66% come from inland flooding and 14% from tornadoes. 6 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1994.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The largest public high school is Sparta Senior High School, with 778 students. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by the Sparta Area Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgeview Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 555 | – |
| Sparta Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 778 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
6.8 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Sparta Township’s trail network density stands at 0.2 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Parks and preserves locally: 9, covering 211 acres.
| Sparta Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. SARA Sports Park | 1.8 mi | 83 |
| 2. Sparta Nature Trail | 0.8 mi | 100 |
| 3. Rogers Park | 0.4 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 16°, and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Sparta Township: 18% of adults binge drink. The share of adults in Sparta Township who have been diagnosed with depression: 29%.
| Sparta Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 36% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 25% | 25% |
| What stands out | Sparta Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.9% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.4% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Sparta Township has about as many jobs (3,710) as working residents, but only 483 people both live and work here.
The median commute is under 14 miles. Jobs based in Sparta Township grew to 3,710 in 2021, 592 more than in 2011. Commuting out is the norm locally: 12% of working residents work locally. In Sparta Township, the mean commuting time is 23 minutes.
| Sparta Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
15% of residents are 65 or older in Sparta Township. The age mix tracks Michigan closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. Michigan has nearly a third of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 27%. 9,617 people lived in Sparta Township by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, 2.4% more than in 2020.
| Sparta Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 39 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Sparta Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.1% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.1% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.9% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.8% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sparta Township. Close and well known come first.
14 mi MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum31 mi Theme parkMichigan's Adventure
25 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
14 mi MuseumFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
38 mi MuseumJim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia14 mi TheatreAcrisure AmphitheaterGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Staff of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Public domain · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: User Jeffness on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia: Jim Crow Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Sparta Township
About 5 of every 100 Sparta Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Village in Michigan, United States
Sparta is a village in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,244 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Sparta Township. Sparta is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the city of Grand Rapids.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Sparta Township.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Algoma Township (A−) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparta Township | #151 | A− | A− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Algoma Township | #161 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Tyrone Township | #365 | B− | B+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| Alpine Township | #285 | B | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Chester Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | B− |
Chester Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Sparta Township, Algoma Township, Tyrone Township, Alpine Township and Chester Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sparta Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Sparta Township grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #151 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools.
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−.
