Wales TownshipMI
A town of 3,195, settled in 1851.
Is Wales Township a good place to live?
Wales Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $274K for a typical one, or 3.6 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. It grades B overall, ranked 317th of 697 in Michigan. Wales Township’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, against 25 minutes in Michigan’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 99% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Goodells County Park, 341 acres with 2.8 miles of trail.
97% of working residents leave Wales Township for work
Where Wales Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Wales Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Wales Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Wales Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wales 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 Wales Township.
Most working residents commute out of Wales Township
Wales Township has 116 jobs for its 1,435 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 36.8 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan.
Most working residents leave Wales Township for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2011, Wales Township has added 21 jobs, to 116 in 2021. 12% of residents live below the poverty line in Wales Township.
| Wales Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $90,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Wales Township has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Wales Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 18° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Wales Township faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Wales Township since 2014.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4.8% of Wales Township is conserved land
3.7 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Wales Township’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Wales Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goodells County Park | 2.8 mi | 341 |
| 2. Pine River Nature Center | — | 113 |
| 3. Edna S. Newnan Nature Sanctuary | — | 84 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Wales Township ranks healthier than 59% of the country’s towns
Wales Township beats the Michigan average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 27% of Wales Township adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Wales Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 25% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 5.5% | 6.5% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Wales Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.5% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Wales Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Wales Township
About 3 of every 100 Wales Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Wales Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Wales Township is a civil township of St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,180 at the 2020 Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 702 ft
Wales Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Wales Township.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Columbus Township (B) comes closest.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wales Township | #317 | B | A− | — | B+ | B |
| Kenockee Township | — | — | C+ | — | A | C− |
| Riley Township | #378 | B− | C+ | — | B | B+ |
| Columbus Township | #336 | B | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Kimball Township | #388 | B− | A− | — | B− | C+ |
Kenockee Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Wales Township, Kenockee Township, Riley Township, Columbus Township and Kimball Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Wales Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Wales Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Wales Township, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Wales Township grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #317 of 697 in Michigan. It grades B for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Wales Township, MI expensive?
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−.