Is Van Buren Township a good place to live?
Van Buren Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 605th among Michigan's 697 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 51% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $270K for a typical one and 3.5 times the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Only 62 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score lower on civic life. 16% of residents are under 18 in Van Buren Township, against 21% in Michigan’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. Lower Huron Metropark, at 789 acres with 5.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Van Buren Township stand out
Where Van Buren Township beats most towns.
95% of working residents leave Van Buren Township for work
Where Van Buren Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Van Buren Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Van Buren Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Michigan Stadium and 56 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Van Buren Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
24 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
14 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
24 mi TheatreFox Theatre
24 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsPhoto credits
Michigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Moving to Van Buren Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Van Buren 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Van Buren Township.
Conserved land covers 6.7% of Van Buren Township
20 miles of trail wind through 15 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails for Van Buren Township comes to 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Van Buren Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lower Huron Metropark | 5.1 mi | 789 |
| 2. Grace Lake Central Park | 1.1 mi | 67 |
| 3. Van Buren Park | 1 mi | 81 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On state tests, Van Buren Township’s schools trail 56% of Michigan districts
Its public schools are run by the Van Buren Public Schools. Two of its 4 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public school enrollment in Van Buren Township: 1,291 students across 3 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Road Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 388 | B |
| McBride Middle SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–9 | Grades 6–9 | 561 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Van Buren Township has a very low natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
One declared disaster, in 2023, has brought federal aid to Van Buren Township households. On expected storm and flood damage, Van Buren Township sits below just over four fifths of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 59% come from inland flooding and 14% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Crime per resident in Van Buren Township is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
For Van Buren Township, the violent crime rate is 3.2 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate here is 16.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Van Buren Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Van Buren Township has 0.7 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
Jobs based here grew from 7,481 in 2011 to 10,071.
For workers in Van Buren Township, the share who do their job from home is 15%. Between 2011 and 2021, jobs here rose by 2,590, to 10,071. The top destinations are Ann Arbor (11%), Detroit (8%) and Dearborn (6%).
| Van Buren Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers: that is Van Buren Township’s year
July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 45 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer children than Michigan overall
A third of Van Buren Township adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Its midpoint age is 43.1 years.
| Van Buren Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.1 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Van Buren Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.2% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.7% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.4% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.4% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.1% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.5% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.7% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Van Buren Township earns a B− for health
The share of adults in Van Buren Township who worry about having enough food: 17%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Van Buren Township is ahead of Michigan on 2 and behind on 3.
| Van Buren Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Van Buren Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6.1% | 7% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.8% | 8.9% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 14.2% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Van Buren Township
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Van Buren Township
About 7 of every 100 Van Buren Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
About Van Buren Township
American township in Michigan
Van Buren Township is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Van Buren Township is located roughly 28 miles (45.1 km) southwest of downtown Detroit, and 17 miles (27.4 km) southeast of Ann Arbor. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 30,375. It surrounds, but is independent of, the city of Belleville, and locations within the township are often referred to as being in Belleville. Belleville Lake is a principal geographic feature, and the township is also home to Willow Run Airport, which extends into neighboring Ypsilanti Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 682 ft
Van Buren Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Van Buren Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Buren Township | #605 | C− | C | C | C+ | B− |
| Canton Township | #139 | A− | C− | B− | A | A |
| Ypsilanti Township | #411 | B− | C+ | — | C | A− |
| Romulus | #665 | D | B | D | C− | C |
| Sumpter Township | #578 | C− | C | B− | C+ | B− |
Ypsilanti Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Van Buren Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Van Buren Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Van Buren Township, MI a good place to live?
Van Buren Township grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #605 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B− for health, C for safety and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Van Buren Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.