Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C−, 606th among Michigan's 697 graded towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 67% of the country. A typical home there costs about $207K, 3.1 years of the Jackson metro’s $66K median household income. Only 118 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns score lower on the outdoors. Tompkins Township’s average trip to work is 31 minutes, against 25 minutes in Michigan’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. M-50-Sandstone Creek Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Tompkins Township beats most towns.
Where Tompkins 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 Tompkins Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1927 and 3 maps from 1919 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tompkins 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 Tompkins Township.
Tompkins Township sends most of its workers to Blackman Township and beyond, but it has little public open land.
Tompkins Township has 93 jobs for its 931 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Tompkins Township for work: only 2% work in town. Jobs based in Tompkins Township fell to 93 in 2021, 172 fewer than in 2011. The top destinations are Blackman Township (13%), Jackson (12%) and Summit Township (5%).
| Tompkins Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 13% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
39% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Tompkins Township. Tompkins Township beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Tompkins Township.
| Tompkins Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Tompkins Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with arthritis | 32.5% | 29.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Tompkins Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 17° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Just 98 of its 23,131 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Tompkins Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Tompkins Bridge, at 23 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tompkins Bridge | 0.1 mi | 23 |
| 2. Minard's Mill Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Trestle Bridge Access Site | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Tompkins Township. Close and well known come first.
25 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
23 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic
24 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park Zoo33 mi Zoo & aquariumBinder Park Zoo
25 mi MuseumR. E. Olds Transportation Museum
33 mi GardenHidden Lake GardensEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · American Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · R. E. Olds Transportation Museum: kennethaw88, CC BY 4.0 · Hidden Lake Gardens: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Tompkins Township
About 0 of every 100 Tompkins Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Tompkins Township is a civil township of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,618 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Tompkins Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tompkins Township | #606 | C− | B− | — | C+ | C |
| Rives Township | #613 | C− | B− | — | C+ | C |
| Sandstone Township | #314 | B | B | — | B | C+ |
| Springport Township | — | — | B+ | A− | C+ | C |
| Onondaga Township | #491 | C+ | B− | — | B− | B− |
Springport Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Tompkins Township, Rives Township, Sandstone Township and Onondaga Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Tompkins Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tompkins Township grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #606 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
