Wise TownshipMI
A town of 1,385, settled in 1884. 29% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Wise Township a good place to live?
The best of Wise Township’s subject grades is an A for civic life; the weakest is a D for walkability. The biggest park or preserve is Herrick Recreation Area, at 116 acres. Wise Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Wise Township stand out
Where Wise Township beats most towns.
1,385 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Wise Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Wise Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Wise Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wise 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 Wise Township.
Residents of Wise Township are less healthy than four in five U.S. towns
Among adults in Wise Township, 24% say their health is fair or poor, above both Michigan’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (19%). For adults in the town, the share who report frequent physical distress is 17%. In Wise Township, 19% of adults smoke cigarettes, and 29% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Wise Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Wise Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.5% | 10.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.2% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 18.9% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Wise Township’s workers head elsewhere: there are 0.2 jobs for each of them
Since 2011, Wise Township has added 60 jobs, to 87 in 2021. Only 1% of working residents stay in Wise Township for work; the rest commute out. The top destinations are Mount Pleasant (19%), Chippewa Township (13%) and Midland (8%). Half commute less than 16 miles.
| Wise Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Snowy winters and pleasant summers: that is Wise Township’s year
Expect July afternoons of 83° and January nights of 15°, with about 49 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Natural hazards: moderate risk in Wise Township, mostly inland flooding
For Wise Township, the risk rating from FEMA is 52 of 100. 61% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 13%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Wise Township keeps 0.8% of its land conserved
1.0 miles of trail wind through 3 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Herrick Recreation Area | 0.2 mi | 116 |
| 2. Lawrence A. McDonald Wildlife Sanctuary | — | 10 |
| 3. Wise Township Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Wise Township
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Wise Township
About 3 of every 100 Wise Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
99% of working residents leave Wise Township for work
Where Wise Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
About Wise Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Wise Township is a civil township of Isabella County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,355 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 37 sq mi
- Elevation
- 764 ft
Questions about Wise Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Wise Township, MI a good place to live?
29% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Wise 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−.