Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.9 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town. With 2,959 residents, this town was settled in 1861.
The weak point is schools (C+): its schools rank behind 65% of the state's. Its standout strength is health (B+): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 73% of the country. Homes run about $653K for a typical one, 8.1 times the Traverse City metro’s $81K median household income. All told, that adds up to a B− overall and a rank of 424th of 697 in Michigan. It comes out better than 46% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve, at 10,836 acres. Suttons Bay Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 99% of U.S. towns. A third of residents are 65 or older locally, against 19% in Michigan’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
Where Suttons Bay Township beats most towns.
Where Suttons Bay Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Suttons Bay Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 398 in 1900, 613 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and a map from 1957 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Suttons Bay Township. Close and well known come first.
8 mi National LakeshoreSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore1.6M visitors a year38 mi MuseumMichigan Legacy Art ParkSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: en:User:Grod028, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Suttons Bay 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 Suttons Bay Township.
Suttons Bay Township is a second-home town, draws workers from Garfield Township and beyond and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns.
At 8.1 years of the Traverse City metro’s $81K median household income, the typical home (about $653K) costs more against local pay than in 99% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Homes in Suttons Bay Township are typically worth about $653,000, up 1.2% in a year, more than twice the Michigan typical home. In Suttons Bay Township, 87% of households own their home. Also worth knowing: the town’s median rent stands at $1,151 a month.
| Suttons Bay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 87% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,151 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Suttons Bay Public Schools runs its public schools. Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. 3 public schools serve Suttons Bay Township, with 488 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suttons Bay Elementary Middle SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 214 | C− |
| Suttons Bay Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 125 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
1,987 jobs are based in Suttons Bay Township, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 34.2 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Among workers in Suttons Bay Township, 15% do their job from home. The top destinations are Traverse City (17%), Garfield Township (7%) and Leland Township (7%). The town’s average commute comes in at 34 minutes.
| Suttons Bay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $116,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 10% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Of the losses FEMA expects in Suttons Bay Township, 69% come from cold waves and 23% from inland flooding. Compared with 94% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is lower. Paid flood insurance claims here since 2019: one.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In 13 parks and preserves, walkers have 14 miles of trail. Suttons Bay Township’s density of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Suttons Bay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 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. Stites Natural Area | 1.8 mi | 50 |
| 2. Bahle Park | 0.9 mi | 27 |
| 3. Herman Park | 0.6 mi | 116 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 6,340 U.S. towns with household incomes like Suttons Bay Township’s, it is less healthy than 55%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Of 32 CDC measures, Suttons Bay Township beats the Michigan average on 12 and trails it on 3. For adults 18 to 64 here, the share who have no health insurance is 5.3%.
| Suttons Bay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Suttons Bay Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.9% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.7% | 8.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.5% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Nw Michigan Rsch Farm weather station, 8 miles away, records that 115 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 77.3°, cooler than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 16.3°.
In Suttons Bay Township, the typical July afternoon high is 77°F. The January low for Suttons Bay Township comes to 16°F.
| Suttons Bay Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 16°F | 16°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Suttons Bay Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Suttons Bay Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
2 places in Suttons Bay Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Village in Michigan, United States
Suttons Bay is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population in the village reached 613 at the 2020 census. Located within Suttons Bay Township, the community lies upon the shore of the eponymous Suttons Bay, a smaller inlet of Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Suttons Bay Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suttons Bay Township | #424 | B− | C+ | — | C+ | B+ |
| Leland Township | — | — | C− | — | A | A− |
| Bingham Township | #371 | B− | B | — | C+ | B+ |
| Leelanau Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Lake Leelanau | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Leland Township and Leelanau Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Suttons Bay Township, Leland Township, Bingham Township and Leelanau Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lake Leelanau isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Suttons Bay Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Suttons Bay Township grades B− overall, better than 46% of U.S. towns and #424 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B+ for health and C+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
