Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sturgis gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $211K, 3.2 years of the Sturgis area’s $66K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 587th of 697 in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 82% of the country, and its crime rate is higher than 79% of U.S. towns, with 47 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 26% of working residents work locally in Sturgis, above both Michigan’s towns (5.9%) and U.S. towns (8%). Sturgis's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 89% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Thurston Woods Park, 28 acres with 1 miles of trail.
Where Sturgis beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Sturgis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,020 in 1860, 11,082 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 2 maps from 1961 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sturgis, 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 Sturgis.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Sturgis Public Schools. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastwood SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 642 | C |
| Sturgis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 882 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
13% of Sturgis adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Sturgis beats the Michigan average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 77% of Sturgis adults had a checkup this year.
| Sturgis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 6.5% | 8.1% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Sturgis | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 8.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 13.2% | 6.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate in Sturgis is 22.7 per 1,000 residents. Sturgis reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 79% report less. The violent crime rate in Sturgis is 4.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Sturgis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Sturgis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Thurston Woods Park | 1 mi | 28 |
| 2. Harmon Field | 0.3 mi | 5 |
| 3. Franks Park | — | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Sturgis has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 41 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
62% of households own their home in Sturgis. The typical Sturgis home is worth about $211,000, up 2.9% in a year, 20% below the Michigan typical home. Sturgis’ median rent is $826 a month.
| Sturgis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $826 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Sturgis has about as many jobs (5,260) as working residents, but only 1,265 people both live and work here. Jobs based here fell from 6,581 in 2011 to 5,260.
About one in 4 of Sturgis’s working residents works in town. Since 2011, Sturgis has lost 1,321 jobs, to 5,260 in 2021. The top destinations are Sturgis Township (7%), Elkhart (5%) and Middlebury (3%).
| Sturgis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.5% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sturgis
About 3 of every 100 Sturgis residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
12 notable people were born in Sturgis.
City in Michigan, United States
Sturgis is a city in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,082 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township and at the intersection of US 12 and M-66. Sturgis is just north of the Michigan–Indiana border and the I-80/90 Indiana Toll Road. Sturgis has been assigned a ZIP code of 49091.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Sturgis.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgis | #587 | C− | A− | C− | C+ | C− |
| Sturgis Township | — | — | A− | — | C+ | C− |
| Fawn River Township | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Burr Oak Township | #404 | B− | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Sherman Township | #515 | C | B | — | B− | C− |
Sturgis Township and Fawn River Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sturgis Township, Fawn River Township, Burr Oak Township and Sherman Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sturgis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sturgis grades C− overall, better than 22% of U.S. towns and #587 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
12 notable people were born here, including Verne Troyer and Marlin Stutzman.
