Michigan unincorporated communities: 2,216 named places with counties

How many towns are in Michigan?

“Town” describes a real community, not just a particular form of local government. Michigan has incorporated cities and villages, established towns that are unincorporated, and many other named communities. Townships are a separate form of local government; they are not counted here as additional settlements.

This directory documents 745 cities, villages, and established/recognized communities, plus 2,216 other unincorporated communities: 2,961 distinct place records altogether. These are counts of the places documented in the sources below, not an official, exhaustive statewide total of every present-day, historical, or locally named settlement.

Cities, villages & established communities

745

Other unincorporated communities

2,216

Total places in this directory

2,961

The 745-place list includes 281 cities, 252 villages, and 212 established/recognized communities.

Established communities are real Michigan towns

Alden, Atlanta, and Bridgeport are real Michigan towns. Being unincorporated does not make a town any less real. These established communities have names, residents, and geographic identities, and the U.S. Census Bureau recognizes them as Census-designated places (CDPs).

A CDP is a statistical area rather than an incorporated municipality. That distinction describes how a place is classified and governed; it does not mean the town does not exist. Established/recognized communities groups these 212 towns alongside cities and villages in this directory, while retaining their actual Census classifications.

The other 2,216 named unincorporated communities are listed in a separate article. They are real places too. The 212 established communities appear only in the towns and cities list, so each place is listed once. Counting by legal status instead, 2,428 records in this directory are unincorporated (212 CDPs plus 2,216 other communities); that is an overlapping description, not an additional group to add to the total.

Reading the community lists

Each entry includes its county or counties and community category. Different places can share a name, so the totals count distinct places rather than unique names. A community that crosses a county line remains one entry with multiple counties listed.

The towns and cities list covers cities, villages, and established/recognized communities. The unincorporated communities list covers the other named communities documented in the federal Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

Michigan unincorporated communities list

These 2,216 entries are additional GNIS populated places. The 212 established/recognized communities appear only in the towns and cities article, without duplication here. Together, the two lists document 2,961 distinct places; neither claims to be an exhaustive official statewide register.

All entries are shown below.