Photo: Matt Krajenke · Public domainUtica’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Utica Public Library serves Utica’s 5,245 residents. Last year it lent 27K print books and media and logged 8,187 visits.
What’s behind Utica’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Utica is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #654 of 697 in Michigan. Utica’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Utica’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Utica
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Utica’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Utica’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Utica Public Library serves 5,245 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
27K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Utica last year.
Find it
Utica Public Library, 7530 Auburn Road, Utica.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Utica? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Utica cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $174K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $457K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $174K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 3,047 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Utica borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica | Utica Public Library | 5.2 | 41 | C− |
| Shelby Township | Shelby Township Library fine-free | 3.9 | 57 | D |
| Sterling Heights | Sterling Heights Public Library | 3.6 | 56 | D− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Utica Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Utica
Does Utica have a public library?
Yes. Utica Public Library, 7530 Auburn Road, serves Utica’s 5,245 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Utica Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Utica’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 5.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Utica’s civic life grade?
C− Utica is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #654 of 697 in Michigan. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Utica.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.