Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Westland is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, ranked 552nd of 697 in Michigan, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 61% of Michigan towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its crime rate is higher than 76% of U.S. towns, with 346 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. A typical home there costs about $211K, 2.8 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income. Westland’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Michigan’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Only 25 of Michigan’s 1,265 towns score lower on civic life. Westland has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Annapolis Park Historic District and Norwayne Historic District.
Where Westland beats most towns.
Where Westland’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 Westland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 9,806 in 1930, 85,420 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 8 maps from 1905 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Westland. Close and well known come first.
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaMichigan Stadium
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaFord Field
17 mi Stadium & arenaComerica Park
8 mi MuseumThe Henry Ford1.8M visitors a year
17 mi TheatreFox Theatre
16 mi MuseumDetroit Institute of ArtsMichigan Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ford Field: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Comerica Park: City of Detroit, Public domain · The Henry Ford: Alvintrusty, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fox Theatre: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Detroit Institute of Arts: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Westland, 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 Westland.
Westland is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more.
29 miles of trail in 30 parks and preserves. Holliday Nature Preserve, at 503 acres with 13.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Holliday Nature Preserve | 13.3 mi | 503 |
| 2. Nankin Mills Recreation Area | 2.1 mi | 45 |
| 3. Hines Parkway | 2 mi | 261 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Wayne-Westland Community School District. Two of its 19 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adlai Stevenson Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 768 | C− |
| John Glenn High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 1,368 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities. Since 2008, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Westland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 1,780 to 1,320 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Westland’s violent crime rate is 4.2 per 1,000 residents, above both Michigan’s towns (1.9) and U.S. towns (1.6). Westland reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 76% report less.
| Westland | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jobs based here fell from 18,851 in 2011 to 14,589.
Most working residents leave Westland for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Westland fell to 14,589 in 2021, 4,262 fewer than in 2011. 14% of residents live below the poverty line in Westland.
| Westland | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Against the 9,432 U.S. towns with household incomes like Westland’s, it is less healthy than 52%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Westland beats the Michigan average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 40% of Westland adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Westland | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Westland | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.5% | 8.7% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 15.6% | 11.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 19.8% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Westland has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 2.8 years of the Detroit metro’s $77K median household income, the typical home (about $211K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
The typical Westland home is worth about $211,000, up 1.6% in a year, 20% below the Michigan typical home.
| Westland | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,158 a month | $1,045 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 45% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Michigan average. Westland’s median age is 38.1 years. Westland has lost 3.6% of its people since 2020, down to 82,333 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Westland | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38.1 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.2 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women. Median age: women 40.3, men 36.0.
| Westland | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.6% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.3% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.9% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.4% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.4% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.2% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 25% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.2% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.8% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
11 within 15 miles of the center of Westland
About 6 of every 100 Westland residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
2 places in Westland on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Westland.
City in Michigan, United States
Westland is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Westland is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of downtown Detroit. As of 2022, the city had a population of 84,037.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Westland.
Canton Township next door grades higher for schools (A to Westland’s B) and lower for cost of living (C− to B−).
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westland | #552 | C | B− | C− | B | C |
| Garden City | #508 | C+ | B− | B− | C | C+ |
| Wayne | #651 | D | B | D | C | C− |
| Inkster | #689 | D− | B | D | C− | D− |
| Canton Township | #139 | A− | C− | B− | A | A |
| Dearborn Heights | #594 | C− | C | C | B+ | C |
| Livonia | #182 | A− | C | C+ | A− | A− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Westland grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #552 of 697 in Michigan. It grades C for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
4 notable people were born here, including Gregory Jbara and Chris Conner.
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