Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Swartz Creek is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 405th of 697 graded towns in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $72K. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $252K, 4.1 years of the Flint metro’s $62K median household income. 26% of residents are 65 or older in Swartz Creek, above both Michigan’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (18%). The biggest park or preserve is Elms Road Park, at 27 acres.
Where Swartz Creek beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Swartz Creek is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,006 in 1960, 5,897 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1870 and 4 maps from 1922 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Swartz Creek, 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 Swartz Creek.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 85% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Swartz Creek.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Swartz Creek Community Schools. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Swartz Creek High School, with 996 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swartz Creek Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 758 | C+ |
| Swartz Creek High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 996 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Swartz Creek has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Swartz Creek for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Swartz Creek grew to 1,815 in 2021, 392 more than in 2011. The average trip to work in Swartz Creek is 28 minutes.
| Swartz Creek | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
0.0 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Elms Road Park | — | 27 |
| 2. Abrams Park | — | 16 |
| 3. Heritage Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Swartz Creek home is worth about $253,000, up 4% in a year, close to the Michigan typical home. 70% of households own their home in Swartz Creek.
| Swartz Creek | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,247 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Swartz Creek beats the Michigan average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 35% of Swartz Creek adults feel lonely.
| Swartz Creek | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Swartz Creek | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.4% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 8.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Swartz Creek. Close and well known come first.
37 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
8 mi MuseumSloan Museum
8 mi MuseumFlint Institute of Arts13 mi MuseumCrossroads Village (Michigan)
40 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park ZooEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flint Institute of Arts: Blueskiesfalling at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Swartz Creek
About 7 of every 100 Swartz Creek residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
City in Michigan, United States
Swartz Creek is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,897 at the 2020 census. The city is a suburb of Flint and has incorporated land formerly within Flint Charter Township, Gaines Township, and Clayton Township, but is administratively autonomous from all three.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Swartz Creek.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Gaines Township (C+) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swartz Creek | #405 | B− | C | — | B | B− |
| Flint Township | #694 | D− | C+ | D− | C | D |
| Clayton Township | #466 | C+ | C− | A | B | C+ |
| Gaines Township | #455 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B− |
Swartz Creek and Gaines Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Swartz Creek with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Swartz Creek grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #405 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B− for health and B 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.
2 notable people were born here, including Galen Stone and Bert F. Crapser.
