WalkerMI
A town of 25,881, settled in 1884.
What should you know before moving to Walker?
Walker's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades A−, ranked 177th of 697 in Michigan. Its schools rank ahead of 83% of Michigan towns and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 79% of the country. Its weakest subject is safety: its police reported 56 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 78% of U.S. towns. Walker’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest place to walk is Millennium Park, 801 acres with 6.5 miles of trail.
What makes Walker stand out
Where Walker beats most towns.
Every workday, about 22,774 people come to Walker for work
Where Walker’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Walker grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Walker is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Walker: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walker, 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 Walker.
Walker draws workers from Grand Rapids and beyond and reports less crime than Wyoming or any other graded neighbor.
9.9% of Walker is conserved land
There are 25 miles of trail across 12 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Walker: 12, covering 1,243 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnson Park | 8.6 mi | 232 |
| 2. Millennium Park | 6.5 mi | 801 |
| 3. Blandford Nature Center | 1.8 mi | 102 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For schools, Walker earns an A−
Three of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. 5 public schools serve Walker, with 2,118 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walker Charter AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 711 | A− |
| West MI Academy of Environmental ScienceLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 666 | B |
| Blandford SchoolTop results in townGrades 6 | Grades 6 | 60 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
About one in nine working residents works right in Walker
23,990 jobs are based in Walker, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 17,251 in 2011 to 23,990.
Walker’s average commute is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (28%), Wyoming (7%) and Kentwood (5%). Half of commuters travel less than 8 miles.
| Walker | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.6% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Natural hazards: very low risk in Walker, mostly inland flooding
Flood insurance has paid one claim in Walker since 2001. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage locally than in 92% of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For health, Walker earns an A−
In Walker, 12% of adults report frequent physical distress, below both Michigan’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (14%). Walker: 30% of adults have high blood pressure. Two figures for adults in the town: 29% have been diagnosed with depression, 19% binge drink.
| Walker | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 12% | 12% |
| What stands out | Walker | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.7% | 3.7% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.4% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 73.7% | 77.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For safety, Walker earns a C−
Crime runs higher than in most U.S. towns, but that grade tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Wyoming (C−) comes closest.
Walker’s property offense rate comes in at 23.6 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of reported violence is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Walker | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 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
Walker’s typical home value is about $360K
Homes sold in Walker spent a median 6 days on the market. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 5.3%. Nearly two thirds of households own their home in the town.
| Walker | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,202 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The climate in Walker brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
Expect July afternoons of 83° and January nights of 17°, with about 75 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Young adults are more common in Walker than in Michigan
In Walker, the median age is 36.9 years. Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). The share of adults 25 and older in Walker who hold a bachelor’s degree or more: 39%. Population is up 2.9% here since 2020, to 25,881 by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Walker | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.9 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.3, men 36.6.
| Walker | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.1% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.9% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.3% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.6% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and 12 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Walker. Close and well known come first.
4 mi MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
22 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
9 mi MuseumFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park36 mi Theme parkMichigan's Adventure5 mi TheatreAcrisure Amphitheater
4 mi Zoo & aquariumJohn Ball ZooPhoto credits
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Staff of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Public domain · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: User Jeffness on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · John Ball Zoo: Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Walker
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Walker
About 6 of every 100 Walker residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
About Walker
City in Michigan, United States
Walker is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A suburb of Grand Rapids, Walker borders the city to the north and west. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,132. Walker was originally organized as Walker Township in 1837 and later incorporated as a city in 1962. It is home to the headquarters of Meijer and Bissell.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 26 sq mi
- Elevation
- 745 ft
- Area code
- 616
Walker’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Walker.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker | #177 | A− | B− | C− | A− | A− |
| Grand Rapids | #583 | C− | C+ | D | C | B |
| Grandville | #165 | A− | C+ | D | A | A− |
| Tallmadge Township | #181 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Alpine Township | #285 | B | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
| Comstock Park | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | #386 | B− | B− | C− | B+ | B− |
Tallmadge Township and Alpine Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Comstock Park isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Walker with a neighbor →
Questions about Walker
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Walker, MI a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Walker grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #177 of 697 in Michigan. It grades A− for health, C− for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Walker, MI expensive?
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($82,874 across the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.