Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. St. Joseph grades A− overall, 179th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. Its schools rank ahead of 93% of Michigan towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 84% of the country and the median household earns $84K. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. 55% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in St. Joseph, where Michigan’s towns sit at 26% and U.S. towns at 29%. On walkability, just 32 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve, at 824 acres.
Where St. Joseph beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln School | PK–5 | 423 |
| Trinity Lutheran School | PK–8 | 172 |
| St Joseph High School | 9–12 | 933 |
Blossomland Bridge
Census counts: 2,603 in 1880, a peak of 11,755 in 1960, 7,856 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1886 and 2 maps from 1970 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far St. Joseph is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Joseph, 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 St. Joseph.
St. Joseph draws workers from Lincoln Township and beyond and has less food insecurity than most of Michigan, but it has property taxes 1.6 times the Michigan norm.
6,090 jobs are based in St. Joseph, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here fell from 7,817 in 2011 to 6,090.
Most working residents leave St. St. Joseph’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Since 2011, St. Joseph has lost 1,727 jobs, to 6,090 in 2021.
| St. Joseph | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 16% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the St. Joseph Public Schools. The largest public high school is St Joseph High School, with 933 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 423 | A− |
| St Joseph High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 933 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Michigan is food insecurity: 9.4% of its 6,605 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.4% statewide.
11% of adults smoke cigarettes in St. Joseph. Joseph beats the Michigan average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 12% of adults report frequent physical distress in St. Joseph.
| St. Joseph | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | St. Joseph | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 15.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.3% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| St. Joseph | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Silver Beach County Park | 0.5 mi | 29 |
| 2. Tiscornia Park | 0.5 mi | 14 |
| 3. Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve | — | 824 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $4,582, against $2,904 across Michigan, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical St. 58% of St. Joseph households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.7% in the year to September 2026.
| St. Joseph | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,081 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Joseph.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The property crime rate in St. Joseph is 13.7 per 1,000 residents.
| St. Joseph | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Joseph has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 20° and about 78 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2 within 15 miles of the center of St. Joseph
About 6 of every 100 St. Joseph residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
Where St. Joseph’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
3 places in St. Joseph on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in St. Joseph.
City in Michigan, United States
Saint Joseph, colloquially known as Saint Joe, is a city in and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,856. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about 90 miles (140 km) east-northeast of Chicago. The city and adjacent Benton Harbor are known as the "Twin Cities".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with St. Joseph.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph | #179 | A− | C− | C | A | A− |
| St. Joseph Township | #369 | B− | C | B | B+ | B |
| Benton Harbor | #693 | D− | B+ | D− | D− | D− |
| Fair Plain | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Shoreham | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Fair Plain and Shoreham aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare St. Joseph with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. St. Joseph grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #179 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A− for health, C for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
St. 27 notable people were born here, including Kate Upton and Reilly Opelka.
