Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Good on most counts; one lags. Its best grade is for cost of living: a typical home costs about $166K, 2.5 years of the Owosso area’s $67K median household income. At B+ overall, Vernon Township ranks 269th of 697 in Michigan. Set against the rest, it does better than 65% of U.S. towns. Add incomes to its strengths: the median household earns $64K. The trade-off is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. It also trails on health — residents are less healthy than 64% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES.
Where Vernon Township beats most towns.
Where Vernon 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 Vernon Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 554 in 1880, a peak of 1,008 in 1980, 738 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2019 and 3 maps from 1922 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vernon 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 Vernon Township.
Vernon Township trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Homes are within reach (about $166K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles. At 2.5 years of the Owosso area’s $67K median household income, the typical home (about $166K) costs less against local pay than in 86% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
For households in Vernon Township, the share who are owner-occupiers is 93%. The typical home value locally is about $166,000, down 1.6% in a year, 37% below the Michigan typical home. The town’s median rent stands at $927 a month, against $1,047 a month in Michigan’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns.
| Vernon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $927 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Public schools: the Durand Area Schools. Its two schools are below. Enrollment at Vernon Township’s public school: 304 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durand Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 304 | C |
| Shiawassee RESD College and Career Readiness CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Commuting out is the norm in Vernon Township: 3% of working residents work locally. Its average commute stands at 31 minutes, above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2011, Vernon Township has added 71 jobs, to 498 in 2021. The top destinations are Durand (7%), Owosso (5%) and Flint Township (4%).
| Vernon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,753 U.S. towns with household incomes like Vernon Township’s, it is healthier than 51%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
15% of adults report frequent physical distress in Vernon Township. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Vernon Township is ahead of Michigan on 3 and behind on 2.
| Vernon Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Vernon Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.3% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.1% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Vernon Township, the FEMA hazard score is 35 of 100. Expected losses in Vernon Township break down as 38% from inland flooding and 24% from tornadoes. Also worth knowing: this Michigan town has had one paid flood insurance claim since 2002.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sexton Memorial Park | — | 6 |
| 2. Crawford Memorial Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Davis Roadside Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vernon Township. Close and well known come first.
29 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
17 mi MuseumSloan Museum
32 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park Zoo
17 mi MuseumFlint Institute of Arts
32 mi MuseumR. E. Olds Transportation MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sloan Museum: Amancour, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flint Institute of Arts: Blueskiesfalling at English Wikipedia, Public domain · R. E. Olds Transportation Museum: kennethaw88, CC BY 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Vernon Township
About 2 of every 100 Vernon Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
Village in Michigan, United States
Vernon is a village in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 738 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Vernon Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Vernon Township.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Durand (B) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon Township | #269 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | C+ |
| Shiawassee Township | #389 | B− | B | — | B+ | C |
| Venice Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| Gaines Township | #455 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B− |
| Durand | #283 | B | B | B− | B+ | C+ |
| Burns Township | #487 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B− |
Venice Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Vernon Township, Shiawassee Township, Venice Township, Gaines Township and Burns Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Vernon Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Vernon Township grades B+ overall, better than 65% of U.S. towns and #269 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C+ for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
