West Traverse TownshipMI
A town of 1,740. 3.5 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is West Traverse Township a good place to live?
The best of West Traverse Township’s subject grades are an A− for schools, an A+ for civic life, and an A for the outdoors; the weakest is a C for cost of living. 35% of residents are 65 or older in West Traverse Township, where Michigan’s towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 18%. Only 10 of the 702 Michigan towns we compare have a lower July high than West Traverse Township. West Traverse Township’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile, where Michigan’s towns sit at 0.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Only 105 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score higher on civic life. Winter Park, at 81 acres with 2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. West Traverse Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes West Traverse Township stand out
Where West Traverse Township beats most towns.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
West Traverse Township has grown 9% since 2010
1,606 counted in 2010 and 1,768 in 2020; an estimated 1,740 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How West Traverse Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far West Traverse Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to West Traverse Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Traverse 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 West Traverse Township.
West Traverse Township faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A smaller share of adults sleep under 7 hours in West Traverse Township than in most of Michigan or the rest of the country
26% of West Traverse Township adults sleep under 7 hours. West Traverse Township beats the Michigan average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 14% of West Traverse Township adults binge drink.
| West Traverse Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 80% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | West Traverse Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.4% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.7% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.4% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
West Traverse Township has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave West Traverse Township for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in West Traverse Township grew to 382 in 2021, 84 more than in 2011. West Traverse Township’s median household income is $94,000.
| West Traverse Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 15% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.8% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 5.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In West Traverse Township, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
West Traverse Township has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The January low in West Traverse Township is 13°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 10.5% of West Traverse Township
21 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr. Working Forest Reserve | 2.6 mi | 252 |
| 2. Winter Park | 2 mi | 81 |
| 3. Thorne Swift Nature Preserve | 0.9 mi | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about West Traverse Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of West Traverse Township
About 2 of every 100 West Traverse Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
96% of working residents leave West Traverse Township for work
Where West Traverse Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About West Traverse Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
West Traverse Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,768 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 13 sq mi
- Elevation
- 945 ft
West Traverse Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with West Traverse Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Traverse Township | — | — | C | — | A− | A− |
| Harbor Springs | — | — | C | A− | A− | A− |
| Little Traverse Township | #92 | A | B | — | A− | B+ |
| Pleasantview Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Friendship Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
West Traverse Township and Harbor Springs have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. West Traverse Township and Little Traverse Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Pleasantview Township and Friendship Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare West Traverse Township with a neighbor →
Questions about West Traverse Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is West Traverse Township, MI a good place to live?
3.5 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is West Traverse 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.