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Towns / Michigan

Beechwood, Michigan

Beechwood is an unincorporated community of about 2,800 people in Ottawa County, Michigan, in the Holland area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 3.9 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Grand Rapids, is about 26 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Holland

Population
2,776
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$277,800
Ottawa County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$71,275
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Grand Rapids area
95.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Holland, MI
To Grand Rapids
26 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.5% below the U.S. average in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 K-12 and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byHolland Hospital in Holland, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGrand Rapids is about 26 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Beechwood meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Beechwood runs into the built-up area around Holland (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$277,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Ottawa County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$871 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$71,275U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$3,241 a yearMichigan: $2,904
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
12%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
6%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.5U.S. average = 100 (the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood metro area, not Beechwood alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,776The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
35.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
32%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%
College students
9%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (25%); manufacturing (20%); retail (18%)
Average commute
18 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Holland Hospital, Holland, MI, about 2 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Beechwood, run by West Ottawa Public School District and Vanderbilt Charter Academy.

Colleges in or next to town: Hope College (1,000 to 4,999 students); Western Theological Seminary (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Michigan's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
20°F
July average high
79°F
Days 90°F or hotter
11 a year
Nights at or below freezing
132 a year
Rain and melted snow
35.1 inches a year
Snow
87 inches a year
Elevation
605 feet

Weather stations: Holland Wtp (4 miles away) and Muskegon Co Ap (26 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Holland Hospital, Wyoming, Grand Rapids.

Ottawa County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • North Country National Scenic Trail50 miles

Campus life. Check Hope College's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Beechwood's history on Wikipedia.

Know Beechwood?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Saugatuck, MI882 people, 10 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.