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Jackson County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Summit Township, MI

A Jackson, MI 49203 or 49201 address can sit in Summit Township or inside the City of Jackson, and the two tax bills differ by about 14 mills, so one Michigan broker checks the parcel and shops your loan across multiple wholesale lenders.

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What should you know before buying a home in Summit Township?

Summit Township, in Jackson County, is home to about 22,817 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (22,920 in the 2020 census) across about 29 square miles of land. ZIP codes 49203 and 49201 cover nearly all of the township, and its own assessor values each parcel. Downtown Ann Arbor is about 36 miles east in a straight line.

By the numbers

What do the numbers say about Summit Township housing?

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$197,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+31%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

2

Residential ZIP codes: 49203, 49201

What does financing look like in Summit Township?

Zillow's home value index put the typical home in the 49201 ZIP code near $251,000 in September 2026, about 2.6% above a year earlier, and the 49203 ZIP code near $169,000, up about 1.2%. Neither ZIP lines up with the township: 49203 also takes in the south side of the City of Jackson and part of Leoni Township, and 49201 wraps around the city on several sides. The Census, pooling owners' own estimates from 2020 to 2024, puts Summit Township's median owner home near $197,400, which is where the $197,000 typical value on this page comes from. Street to street the range is wide, from block groups near $83,000 off Francis Street to about $342,000 along Ferguson Road and Lexington Boulevard, so we price from sales on the street you are looking at.

At these prices nearly every purchase fits inside the $832,750 conforming limit and the $541,287 FHA limit that apply in Jackson County for 2026, so conventional, FHA and VA loans all come into play, and a jumbo loan would need a loan amount past the conforming limit. A first-time buyer who meets MSHDA's income and price rules can add MI 10K, a deferred $10,000 repaid when the home is sold, refinanced or paid off or stops being the owner's residence, under the program's $566,355 price ceiling. The Census counts about 268 manufactured homes in the township, many of them in the block group around Floyd Avenue and Draper Road, and a lender treats one as real estate only when it sits on a permanent foundation on land you own, so that question comes first on those listings.

Summit Township runs its own water utility, fifteen wells at nine sites feeding about 195 miles of main and four water towers, and its own sewer system of about 129 miles of gravity and pressure mains and 28 lift stations, with the sewage treated by the City of Jackson. Water and sewer are billed by the township every quarter, and its posted schedule raises the base charge each July through June 2029, from $138.10 to $192.40 a quarter for a three-quarter-inch water and sewer service across the five steps. Some neighborhoods are served by grinder pump sewers, which leave a pump and tank on the lot, and a parcel off the township lines typically relies on a private well and septic system. None of these bills runs through the mortgage payment, so we count them in the monthly budget before you choose a price.

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Two houses can both read Jackson, MI 49203 and carry tax bills about 14 mills apart: Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead total with Jackson Public Schools was 35.59 mills in Summit Township and 49.57 inside the City of Jackson, roughly $1,397 a year on every $100,000 of taxable value, and only city residents pay the city's 1% income tax.

The market

What is the Summit Township housing market like?

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median owner-occupied home value in Summit Township near $197,400, across about 7,880 owner-occupied homes, with a median year built of 1962. The typical home value in Summit Township is near $197,000. Homeowners pay a median of about $2,486 a year in property taxes, an effective rate of about 1.26% of the median value.

Jackson, MI 49203 and 49201

Where a Summit Township address actually is

Summit Township covers about 29 square miles of land south and west of the City of Jackson, all of it with a Jackson mailing address. Land shares are from the Census 2020 ZIP and township relationship file, and home counts are 2020 Census blocks inside the township.

ZIP 49203: about 83% of the homes

About 8,370 of the township's 10,041 homes in 2020 and about half its land, from Vandercook Lake to the McCain Road subdivisions. The same ZIP code covers the south side of the City of Jackson and part of Leoni Township, so a 49203 listing can be in either.

ZIP 49201: about 16% of the homes

About 1,650 homes in 2020 across nearly half the township's land, the larger lots along Horton, Ferguson and Kimmel roads and the lakes near Jackson College. The same ZIP code reaches into a dozen townships around the city.

Vandercook Lake: part of the township

A Census community of 4,579 people in 2020 and about 1,970 homes, roughly a fifth of the township. It has its own school district, Vandercook Lake Public Schools, but no village government, so Summit Township assesses, taxes and serves it.

ZIP 49246 and the edges

A strip of about 1.3 square kilometers in the southwest corner reads Horton, with about 22 homes in 2020, and a handful of parcels carry 49202. Whatever the ZIP code, the parcel number on the tax bill names the taxing unit.

Where to look

Which neighborhoods make up Summit Township?

Vandercook Lake shoreline and the lettered avenues

Lakeside Avenue, Echo Beach Drive, East and West Vandercook Drive, Avenues A, B and C and the numbered streets around the lake, with Vandercook Lake County Park on the north shore and Golf Avenue and Francis Street on the edges. About 474 homes in 2020. Census owners here put values near $111,700 (a wide margin) and the typical house dates from about 1941. Vandercook Lake is a Census community inside the township, not a village, so Summit Township assesses and taxes it.

Floyd Avenue, Draper Road and the Southfield streets

East of the lake between McDevitt Avenue (M-50) and Brooklyn Road, along Floyd Avenue, Draper Road, the Southfield drives, Taylor Street and Gatewood Drive, near Townsend Elementary and Gatewood Park. About 594 homes in 2020. Its block group reports owner values near $197,600 with a wide margin, a median home from 1972, and about 157 manufactured homes by the Census count, also with a wide margin.

River Park and Garden City Road along the Grand River

The streets south of the lake where the Grand River bends through: River Park Road and Court, Garden City Road, Argyle and Marion roads, Valley View Road and the Justin, Eugene and Gerald avenues. About 537 homes in 2020. Census owners value homes near $122,300 (a wide margin), and the median build year is about 1966. Pull the FEMA map for any lot near the river before the offer.

Overhill Road and the Coler and Palmer streets near the city line

Two older block groups on either side of Francis Street where the township meets the City of Jackson: Overhill Road, Fairview Drive, Crest Avenue and East and West Coler Street, and to the north Highland, Oakwood and Avondale avenues, Palmer Avenue and Summit Place near Lincoln School. About 994 homes in 2020. Owner values run near $107,700 and $83,000, with typical build years of 1946 and 1943.

Presidents streets and Weatherwax Drive

Roosevelt, Coolidge and Harding roads, Winston Street and the Argus courts off Weatherwax Drive, plus Probert Road, Hinckley Boulevard and the Walmont roads to the south. About 758 homes in 2020 across two block groups. Owners put values near $147,200 (a wide margin) in the first and about $240,700 in the Walmont and Probert streets, with homes typically from 1959 and 1962.

Cascades area off South Brown Street

South Brown Street, Cascade Ridge and Cascade Creek drives, Wooddale, the Saint Anthony streets and Dahlem Boulevard, just south of the Cascades Golf Course and Sparks Foundation County Park. About 959 homes in 2020. Census owners value homes near $208,900, and the typical house was built around 1973.

West Morrell Street and the numbered streets

The grid of 17th through 24th streets with West Morrell Street, Westwood Boulevard, Cortland Boulevard and Concord Square, between South Brown Street and Spring Arbor Road at the township's north edge. About 777 homes in 2020. Owners here report values near $161,700, and the median home dates from about 1954.

McCain Road, Westchester and Barrington Circle

The northwest subdivisions along McCain Road: Westchester, Hearthstone and Halstead boulevards, East and West Barrington Circle, Magnolia Parkway and Thorncrest Drive, near Paragon Charter Academy. About 910 homes in 2020. Census owners value homes near $229,100, and the median build year is about 1994, though that figure carries a wide margin.

Spring Arbor Road (M-60), Arbor Hills and Coachlight

West along M-60 toward Spring Arbor Township: Arbor Hills Road, East and West Coachlight Drive, Glenngarry Road, Par View Drive and Pine Ridge, with Robinson and Kibby roads crossing and Hickory Hills Golf Club and Lumen Christi High School nearby. About 837 homes in 2020. Owner values sit near $220,900 (a wide margin), with a typical home from 1973.

Horton Road, Stone Oak and Golf Club Boulevard

Subdivisions off Horton Road west of the township hall: Stone Oak Drive, Golf Club Boulevard, Pinehurst Drive, Country Manor Road, Squires Manor and Nantucket Drive, near Dibble Elementary and Peterson Lake. About 750 homes in 2020. Census owners put values near $322,300 (a wide margin), and most homes date from around 1983.

Ferguson Road and Lexington Boulevard

The south side along Ferguson Road, South Jackson Road and Kimmel Road: Lexington Boulevard, Wedgefield Circle, Legends Boulevard, the Bardstone and Broadmoor streets, toward the Country Club of Jackson and the hamlet of South Jackson. About 711 homes in 2020. Owners report values near $341,600 and a median home from 1991.

Williams Lake, Browns Lake Road and Jackson College

The southeast corner around Williams, Brown and Cove lakes: Browns Lake Road, Williams Lake Drive, Lakeshore Drive, the Mardee roads and Vandemere Drive, with Jackson College's main campus on Emmons Road and the Dahlem Environmental Education Center just south. About 455 homes in 2020. Census owners value homes near $276,300, and the median build year is 1968.

Schools and commute

Schools

Four of every five Summit Township homes sit in Jackson Public Schools, even though most of them read Jackson rather than Summit on the mail. By our count of 2020 Census blocks against Census school district lines, Jackson Public Schools covers about 78% of the township's land and 79% of its homes, Vandercook Lake Public Schools about 17% of the land and 20% of the homes around the lake, and Hanover-Horton Schools about 4% of the land in the southwest corner with fewer than 100 homes. Thin slivers on the edges fall in East Jackson Community Schools (about 19 homes) and Western School District (land with no 2020 homes). The township's own 2026 millage page, which repeats the 2025 bills, and Michigan Treasury give these homestead totals: 35.59 mills with Jackson Public Schools, 34.71 with Vandercook Lake, 30.86 with Hanover-Horton and 35.90 with East Jackson or Western. A second home or rental adds the 18-mill school operating levy, so 53.59 with Jackson Public Schools. Two schools in the township, Lumen Christi High School and Paragon Charter Academy, levy no property tax, and Jackson College's main campus on Emmons Road is inside the Jackson Public Schools area.

Commute

Summit Township wraps the south and west sides of the City of Jackson, so most trips start north. From the township hall at 2121 Ferguson Road, downtown Jackson's city hall is about 4.7 miles and 10 minutes away, Consumers Energy's One Energy Plaza about 4.6 miles and 10 minutes, Henry Ford Jackson Hospital on North East Avenue about 5.4 miles and 12 minutes, and Jackson College about 4.9 miles and 12 minutes. M-60 (Spring Arbor Road) leaves the township to the west, M-50 runs along Brooklyn Road and McDevitt Avenue past Vandercook Lake, and US-127 follows South Meridian Road on the east edge, reaching I-94 about 7.8 miles and 16 minutes from the hall. From there the Lansing capitol and downtown Ann Arbor are each about 42 miles and 50 to 53 minutes away, downtown Battle Creek about 45 miles and 56 minutes, and downtown Detroit about 83 miles and an hour and 37 minutes by road. The Census puts the township's average one-way commute near 19 minutes, and about one worker in ten works from home. Across Jackson County, manufacturing and health care employ the most people, about 13,400 and 11,300 workers in 2023. The Falling Waters Trail, a Jackson County park, crosses the township on its way west toward Concord.

Day to day

Living in Summit Township

Parks, errands, events, seasonal township tasks and the kinds of homes you will see, from the township's property tax page, the Jackson District Library's Summit Branch page, Jackson County's website, the county tax parcel viewer, FEMA's map service and the other sources named in each card.

What is there to do around Summit Township?

Jackson County's website lists parks and recreation, including Cascades, trails, sports and camping, for the whole county. The township also keeps a Recreation Planning Committee, whose agendas and minutes are posted on the township site, and a Recreation Plan adopted in 2019 that sits beside the township's street map under Community. The township hall at 2121 Ferguson Road holds the board meetings that open each month's agenda.

Where do people run errands?

The Jackson District Library runs a Summit Branch, a 3,000 square foot building the library opened in 1939 and has operated in its current form since 1983. Branch hours are 10 to 8 on Monday and Wednesday, 10 to 6 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 10 to 5 on Saturday, and the branch phone is 517-783-4030. The township office takes questions at 517-788-4113, Monday to Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

What happens here through the year?

The township's events calendar and news page carry meeting notices, and its Toys for Tots drive and board meeting notices appear in the homepage news strip. The fall fire hydrant flushing program began September 14, 2026, running 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday for about three weeks. The township's holiday schedule page lists the days the office is closed.

What does each season mean for a homeowner?

Summer taxes are due by September 14, and the township's tax page lists the interest that begins September 15. Winter taxes are due by February 17, and the page lists the added penalty that starts February 18. Bills are paid at the Summit Township office or online. Open burning of logs six inches across or less and brush needs a township burning permit under the fire ordinance, and leaves and grass clippings may not be burned.

Which kind of home are you after?

Public Works lists a water and sewer connection page and grinder can information, so for any address ask whether it is on township water and sewer and whether a grinder pump is part of the sewer line. The township zoning map and the 2022 master plan show how each area is zoned. For any parcel, check the county tax parcel viewer and FEMA's map service for the address before you make an offer.

Before the purchase agreement

Six things to settle on a Summit Township house

None of these shows up on a listing sheet, and each is easier to sort out before the offer than after it.

  • Township or city. A Jackson address can be in Summit Township or the City of Jackson. Look the parcel up on the county's tax parcel viewer or ask the township hall at 517-788-4113.
  • The current taxable value. Summit Township's assessing department can tell you what the parcel carries today, and you file the homestead affidavit with the same office after closing.
  • The school district on the bill. Jackson Public Schools, Vandercook Lake and Hanover-Horton carry different totals, listed on the township's millage page.
  • Water, sewer and any grinder pump. The township's public works department confirms the service and the quarterly charges. Off the lines, plan for a well and septic inspection.
  • The flood map. Near the Grand River or a lake, check the address on FEMA's map so any insurance requirement is in the budget.
  • A manufactured home's foundation. If the house is manufactured, ask early whether it sits on a permanent foundation on owned land, since that decides which loans can finance it.

Michigan property taxes

What will my property taxes be after I buy in Summit Township?

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In Summit Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 31% the year after a sale. On a $200,000 home, near the typical Summit Township value, the first-year tax goes up roughly $820 to $840, depending on the school district. Most homes here are in Jackson schools (about $840); Vandercook Lake schools homes run about $820. Your address decides which applies. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Summit Township address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

Don't build your budget around somebody else's tax bill. The seller's tax history tells us something about the property. It does not automatically tell us what your taxes are going to look like as the new owner.

2025 homestead millage

How a Summit Township tax bill compares

Totals are Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals, which the township's 2026 millage page repeats. One mill is one dollar for every $1,000 of taxable value, and a second home or rental pays 18 mills more.

Jackson Public Schools: 35.59

Most of the township, about $3,559 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value with the Principal Residence Exemption on file.

Vandercook Lake: 34.71

Homes around the lake and east toward Brooklyn Road, about $88 less than Jackson Public Schools on the same $100,000.

Hanover-Horton: 30.86

The southwest corner near the Horton ZIP code, about 4.7 mills under Jackson Public Schools, or $3,086 per $100,000.

City of Jackson: 49.57

Across the city line with the same school district, about $1,397 more per $100,000 than Summit Township, plus the city's 1% resident income tax.

December 2026 bill: plus one mill

A one-year, township-wide special assessment for fire and police, replaced in 2027 by the voter-approved one-mill fire and police millage.

After a sale: about 31%

Our 2026 Uncapping Study found Summit Township's taxable value rises about 31% the year after a home sells, so plan from your number, not the seller's.

Local resources

Check Summit Township records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

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Summit Township mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

What are Summit Township homes selling for in 2026?

It depends a great deal on the ZIP code and the street. Zillow’s home value index for September 2026 was near $251,000 in 49201 and near $169,000 in 49203, though both ZIP codes also take in parts of the City of Jackson and neighboring townships. The Census median for owner homes in the township itself is about $197,400. Block groups range from about $83,000 near the city line to about $342,000 along Ferguson Road, so we price from recent sales on the street you choose.

The mailing address will not tell you. Summit Township holds about 56% of the land in ZIP code 49203, the City of Jackson about 23% and Leoni Township about 15%, and 49201 surrounds the city on several sides. The Census geocoder places 2815 Overhill Road and 910 Oak Grove Road in Summit Township, while 3225 Fourth Street at Ella Sharp Park, also 49203, is in the city. The parcel number and the tax bill settle it, and the county’s tax parcel viewer shows which unit a parcel belongs to.

The township’s own assessing department values every parcel and handles the homestead affidavit and property transfer affidavit after a sale. The assessor, Tony Clark, is reached at 517-788-4113, extension 235. The township hall is at 2121 Ferguson Road and is open Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Water and sewer billing is extension 224 at the same number.

Usually Jackson Public Schools, which covers about 79% of the township’s homes, at a 2025 homestead total of 35.59 mills. Around Vandercook Lake it is Vandercook Lake Public Schools at 34.71 mills, and in the southwest corner Hanover-Horton Schools at 30.86. A few parcels on the edges fall in East Jackson or Western at 35.90. Confirm the district on the tax bill for the exact parcel, since the lines do not follow the ZIP code.

Most are on Summit Township’s own systems, not the City of Jackson’s. The township pumps from fifteen wells at nine sites and runs about 195 miles of water main, and its sewer flows to the City of Jackson’s treatment plant. The township bills both every quarter. Some streets use grinder pump sewers with a pump on the lot, and rural parcels typically have a private well and septic system. Ask the township which service the address has before you make an offer.

Only if the house sits in a high-risk zone on FEMA’s map. The Grand River runs north through the township, and Vandercook, Williams, Brown and several smaller lakes have homes along their shores, so look up the exact address on FEMA’s flood map site early. If the structure is in a high-risk zone, the lender requires flood insurance, and we build the premium into your payment before you commit.

Voters approved an added one-mill fire and police millage on August 4, 2026 that is first levied on the December 2027 bills. For the December 2026 bills the township board set up a one-year, township-wide special assessment district at the same one mill for fire and police, which the millage then replaces. That puts both years about one mill above the 2025 totals on this page, roughly $100 a year on every $100,000 of taxable value.

Not on their own income as residents. The City of Jackson’s income tax is 1% for people who live in the city. A Summit Township resident who works inside the city pays the nonresident levy, 0.5% of the income earned there on the income earned there.

Communities near Summit Township

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Guides for Summit Township buyers

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Sources

Where do the Summit Township figures on this page come from?

30 sources behind the Summit Township figures above, every link checked November 2026.

Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.

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