Vandercook LakeMI
A town of 4,375.
Is Vandercook Lake a good place to live?
16% of residents are under 18 in Vandercook Lake, below both Michigan’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (22%). The biggest park or preserve is Vandercook Lake County Park, at 22 acres. We don’t grade Vandercook Lake yet; the figures below are still real.
97% of working residents leave Vandercook Lake for work
Where Vandercook Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
Moving to Vandercook Lake: who provides what
Vandercook Lake is unincorporated, so Jackson County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Vandercook Lake.
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Vandercook Lake
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vandercook Lake.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Vandercook Lake’s workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Vandercook Lake for work: only 3% work in town. Vandercook Lake’s average trip to work is 20 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Jobs based in Vandercook Lake fell to 847 in 2021, 146 fewer than in 2011.
| Vandercook Lake | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Vandercook Lake
Vandercook Lake has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 44 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Vandercook Lake is
Vandercook Lake beats the Michigan average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Vandercook Lake.
| Vandercook Lake | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Vandercook Lake | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.7% | 15.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.6% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Conserved land covers 1.1% of Vandercook Lake
0.3 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Vandercook Lake is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Vandercook Lake | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Vandercook Lake County Park | — | 22 |
| 2. Gatewood Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Vandercook Lake sell for about $158K
93% of Vandercook Lake households own their home.
| Vandercook Lake | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,141 a month | $1,046 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Michigan Stadium and 28 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vandercook Lake. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
37 mi Park & preserveDomino's Farms
38 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
39 mi LandmarkYpsilanti Water Tower
34 mi TheatreMichigan Theater
34 mi MuseumUniversity of Michigan Museum of ArtPhoto credits
Michigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Domino's Farms: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 · Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ypsilanti Water Tower: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 · Michigan Theater: mrkumm, CC BY 2.0 · University of Michigan Museum of Art: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Everything we know about Vandercook Lake
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Vandercook Lake
About 4 of every 100 Vandercook Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Vandercook Lake
Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States
Vandercook Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, Vandercook Lake had a population of 4,579. It is located within Summit Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 974 ft
Vandercook Lake’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Vandercook Lake.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandercook Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Summit Township | #647 | D | B− | — | C | C− |
| Jackson | #678 | D | B+ | D− | C | D− |
Summit Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Vandercook Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Vandercook Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Vandercook Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Vandercook Lake, MI a good place to live?
We don’t grade Vandercook Lake yet; the figures below are still real.