Grand River TownshipMO
A town of 3,258 in Missouri.
Is Grand River Township a good place to live?
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Its best grade is for cost of living: a typical home costs about $208K, 3.2 years of the St. Joseph metro’s $65K median household income. Grand River Township’s overall grade of B puts it better than 57% of U.S. towns, 101st of 247 in Missouri. It also does well on schools: its schools rank ahead of 66% of Missouri towns. What holds it back is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 79% of the country. The biggest park or preserve is Cameron Community Park at Old Somerville, at 20 acres. Nearly one in ten residents are under 18 here, where Missouri’s towns sit at 23% and U.S. towns at 22%. Only 5 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a lower January low than Grand River Township.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · OpenStreetMap · NOAA normals, 1991–2020.
Grand River Township has shrunk 45% since 2010
5,893 counted in 2010 and 4,371 in 2020; an estimated 3,258 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 25.9% since 2020, after 25.8% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Grand River Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Grand River Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Grand River Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grand River 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 Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Grand River Township.
Grand River Township has little public open land, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Grand River Township’s grade for health is a C−
31% of Grand River Township adults feel lonely. Two figures for adults locally: 41% have obesity, 32% get no exercise outside work.
| Grand River Township | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 30% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Grand River Township | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.1% | 15.8% |
| More smokers | 18.9% | 16% |
| More adults with COPD | 9% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Mo Correctional CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Grand River Township
Summer afternoons peak near 87° in July, and January nights bottom out around 18°; snowfall runs to about 21 inches a winter. Winters in Grand River Township are chilly and summers warm.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
With 1.4 jobs for every working resident, Grand River Township draws in 1,597 commuters
Jobs based here fell from 2,448 in 2013 to 1,765.
The median commute is under 39 miles. Employers in Grand River Township shed 683 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 1,765. Commuting out is the norm here: 13% of working residents work locally. The town’s mean commuting time is 28 minutes.
| Grand River Township | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 13% | 8% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazards: moderate risk in Grand River Township, mostly inland flooding
On expected storm and flood damage, Grand River Township sits above 55% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 44% come from inland flooding and 24% from tornadoes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Grand River Township is conserved land
Just 0 of its 23,023 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Grand River Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cameron Community Park at Old Somerville | 0.2 mi | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Grand River Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Grand River Township; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Grand River Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
About Grand River Township
Township in Missouri, U.S.
Grand River Township is a township in DeKalb County, Missouri, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 4,371. Grand River Township was established in 1845, taking its name from the Grand River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Grand River Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Grand River Township.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Township | #101 | B | B+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Colfax Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Colfax Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kidder Township | — | — | A+ | — | B | C− |
| Adams Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Kidder Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Grand River Township and Kidder Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Colfax Township, Colfax Township and Adams Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Grand River Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Grand River Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Grand River Township, MO a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Grand River Township grades B overall, better than 57% of U.S. towns and #101 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Grand River Township, MO 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 B+.