Every deadline, width and penalty here was read on September 23, 2026, off the city's own page or the municipal code that city hosts, and each one is quoted and linked beside the line it supports. Cities amend these ordinances between winters and several publish the deadline on a seasonal page that changes in autumn, so the link beside a line is what governs on the day.

Michigan Sidewalk Snow Removal: 2 to 24 Hours

Q: Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Michigan?

The rules collected here are sidewalk rules, and the great majority of Michigan cities publish a second one about where the snow may go once it has been moved, most often forbidding it on the travelled part of the road. Both come off the same city pages linked below, and the Michigan cities that publish only the second are listed as such rather than folded in with the rest.

Q: Which cities in the country give you the least time?

St. Louis, Santa Fe, Sheridan, where the ordinance allows no hours at all. Above them, 57 of the 150 cities that count in hours give twelve hours or less, 74 give exactly a day, and 18 give more than a day. The widest gap inside a single state is Maine, from four hours to three days.

Nothing

What state law sets

37 states are in the same position

2 to 24h

The range across its cities

[object Object] is the tightest

7 of 7

Cities with an ordinance

5 clear it themselves and bill

September 23, 2026

Read

5 publish a penalty

The short answer

Michigan runs from two hours in Marquette to a day in Lansing

Michigan has no sidewalk clearing statute that any of the codes read here relies on. The clock is a city's instead, and six Michigan cities count in hours. The tightest is Marquette at two hours and the loosest Lansing at a day, a gap of 22 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it.

The city named on each line below is the one that publishes the rule and the one that answers questions about it. 53 cities nationally also publish a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared.

Nothing found7 of 7 cities with an ordinance6 counting in hours5 clear it themselves

City by city, in each city’s own words

The 7 Michigan cities that publish an ordinance

Six Michigan cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Michigan as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Each card below carries what that city published and nothing else: the deadline in its own sentence, the sentence it was read from, and the width, the penalty and the wording about ice where the city printed them. The chip is a band derived from the wording for sorting, not a restatement of it.

Marquette
Up to 6h
within two hours after the snow or ice ceases to fall during daylight hours, or by 10:00 a.m. the following day where it ceased during the nighttime, on the streets in the snow removal districts
When any snow or ice shall cease to fall during the daylight hours, such snow or ice shall be cleared from the sidewalks within two hours after such cessation. When a fall of snow or ice shall have ceased during the nighttime, it shall be cleared from the sidewalks by 10:00 a.m. of the day following.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant of every lot or premises adjoining the streets in the districts established in section 42-41, or the owner of such lot or premises, if the same are not occupied
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Marquette Code of Ordinances Sec. 42-42; districts Sec. 42-41; failure to clear Sec. 42-43
- Published by Marquette Code of Ordinances, Chapter 42 Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Places
Sec. 42-42 Sidewalks to be cleared, Marquette Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Warren
7h to 12h
within twelve (12) hours after it has fallen or accumulated
Whenever any snow or ice has fallen or accumulated, it shall be cleared within twelve (12) hours after it has fallen or accumulated.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant of any premises, or the owner of any unoccupied premises
- Width a path free from snow and ice where a sidewalk would otherwise be, where there are no sidewalks
- Penalty not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per violation
- Section Warren Code of Ordinances Sec. 34-60
- Published by Warren Code of Ordinances, Chapter 34 Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Places
Sec. 34-60 Removal of snow and ice, Warren Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Ann Arbor
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the end of each accumulation of snow greater than 1 inch for R1, R2 and R3 residential property; by noon for snow that accumulated before 6:00 a.m. next to property that is not R1, R2 or R3
Except for sidewalks defined by subsections 4:51(1)(b) and (c), within 24 hours after the end of each accumulation of snow greater than 1 inch, the owner, owner's agent, or occupant of every property zoned R1, R2, or R3 residential shall remove the accumulation from the adjacent sidewalk and from walks and ramps that are at bus stops or that lead to a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner, owner's agent, or occupant of the property
What it says about ice
Except for sidewalks defined by subsections 4:51(1)(b) and (c), within 18 hours after any ice forms, the owner, owner's agent, or occupant of every property zoned R1, R2, or R3 residential shall treat the ice on the adjacent sidewalk and on walks and ramps that are at bus stops or that lead to a marked or unmarked crosswalk with sand, salt or other substance to prevent it from being slippery.
- Width the entire constructed width and length of the sidewalk, walk or ramp
- Penalty not less than $60.00 and up to $100.00 for a first citation in a season at R1, R2 or R3 residential property, rising to not less than $200.00 and up to $400.00 for each additional citation; not less than $250.00 and up to $500.00 for a first citation elsewhere
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Ann Arbor City Code 4:60; citation and city removal 4:61
- Published by Ann Arbor City Code, Title IV Streets and Sidewalks
4:60 Removal of snow and ice from sidewalks, walks, and ramps, Ann Arbor City Code, read September 23, 2026
Detroit
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the snow or ice has fallen or formed
Snow or ice that has fallen or formed on any sidewalk in the front, rear, or on the sides of any house, premises, building or lot owned, occupied or controlled shall be removed within 24 hours after the snow or ice has fallen or formed, or a quantity of salt, sand, ash, or other approved materials applied to the snow or ice sufficient to render the sidewalk safe for persons to walk upon, provided, that snow or ice shall not be plowed, shoveled, brushed or piled from private properties, other than residential, onto the paved roadway of any City street or highway.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner, occupant or controller of any house, premises, building or lot
- Penalty $50.00 for a first offence at a one- or two-family dwelling, $100.00 for a second repeat offence and $200.00 for a third or subsequent repeat offence
- Section 2019 Detroit City Code Sec. 8-15-103(c); civil fines Sec. 8-15-11
- Published by 2019 Detroit City Code, Chapter 8 Building Construction and Property Maintenance
Sec. 8-15-103 Driveways, parking spaces and lots, sidewalks, stairs, walkways, and similar areas of traverse; removal of snow and ice from sidewalks, 2019 Detroit City Code, read September 23, 2026
Grand Rapids
13h to 24h
within twenty-four (24) hours of the accumulation or placement of snow or ice
The occupant or occupants of every property within the City, or the owner or owners of the property, shall clear any accumulation of ice or snow from the public sidewalks adjoining such property within twenty-four (24) hours of the accumulation or placement of snow or ice on said sidewalks.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant or occupants of every property within the City, or the owner or owners of the property
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Grand Rapids Code of Ordinances Sec. 4.89
- Published by Grand Rapids Code of Ordinances, Title IV Streets and Sidewalks
Sec. 4.89 Sidewalks to Be Cleared, Grand Rapids Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Lansing
13h to 24h
more than 24 hours after the same has fallen or formed
No person shall permit any snow or ice to remain on any public sidewalk adjacent to any house, building or lot owned or occupied by that person, or on the public sidewalk adjacent to any multifamily dwelling or unoccupied house, building or lot owned by that person, for more than 24 hours after the same has fallen or formed.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the owner of record whose name appears on the City's property assessment records
- Penalty $50.00 at Tier 1 and $25.00 at Tier 2, rising to $200.00 and $100.00 for a second or subsequent repeat offence
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Lansing Codified Ordinances 1020.06; penalty 1020.99; fine schedule 203.06
- Published by Lansing Codified Ordinances, Part 10 Streets, Utilities and Public Services Code
1020.06 Snow and ice, Lansing Codified Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Traverse City
No clock
The ordinance requires the walk cleared and names no time by which.
The removal of snow and ice from private property and the sidewalk abutting or crossing private property shall be the responsibility of the occupant of such private property.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant of the private property, or the owner where there is no occupant or the occupant cannot be determined
- Penalty a civil infraction
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Traverse City Codified Ordinances 668.11
- Published by Traverse City Codified Ordinances, Part Six General Offenses Code
668.11 Removal of snow and ice; responsibility; costs, Traverse City Codified Ordinances, read September 23, 2026

Why one Michigan answer does not exist

Marquette and Lansing are 22 hours apart

A house on one side of a city line in Michigan has two hours and a house on the other has a day, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours.

Neither city is wrong and neither is unusual. A sidewalk ordinance is written by a council for the street outside its own window, and nothing above it in Michigan obliges one council to look at what the next one wrote. The figure that applies to a reader is the one their own city published, which is why every card above carries the city’s name before it carries a number.

A sidewalk cleared earlier in the day with fresh wind blown snow already lying back across the outer half of it, a plowed road to one side and an unbroken snow field to the other — Almost every hour count on these pages runs from the end of the snowfall rather than from its start, which is the one drafting choice the ordinances broadly share. What counts as the end of it, and what a fresh drift across a cleared walk does to the clock, is left to the wording each city chose, and that wording is quoted in full on the state pages. “Snow drifting onto a shoveled sidewalk, Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, 2024-01-20”, Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0

What Michigan itself did

Michigan has written nothing on this

Michigan publishes no statewide shovelling deadline. Each city writes its own rule.

That is the national pattern rather than a Michigan quirk. 13 of the 50 legislatures have a statute that touches sidewalk snow at all, 10 of those do nothing but let a city decide, and not one of them sets a deadline. The clock is a municipal ordinance everywhere in the country.

No statute found, and the cities cite none

No Michigan statute was found on this

has no sidewalk clearing statute that any of the codes read here relies on

What happens if it is not done

A bill or a penalty, depending on the Michigan city

Five Michigan cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty.

Five Michigan cities print a penalty beside the rule, four of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used.

Both routes are printed on the cards above in the sentence each was read from, because a penalty clause paraphrased is a different statement than the one the city made. Where a city publishes a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared, that link is on its card too.

How Michigan compares

The same question in the other forty nine

150 cities nationally count in hours, and the counts run from no hours at all to 72. 74 land on exactly a day, 57 give twelve hours or less, and 18 give more than a day. A further 22 set a time of day or a depth of snow rather than a count of hours at all.

The bar splits those 150 cities by how long they allow, and the table beneath it orders the states by how tight their tightest city is, which is a different ranking from how much snow a state gets.

3 of 150No hours allowed
23 of 150Six hours or less
31 of 150Within twelve hours
75 of 150Within a day
18 of 150More than a day

Fifty states and 267 cities, read September 23, 2026.
State	What the legislature did	What its cities do	With an ordinance	Tightest city
Missouri	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	ImmediatelySt. Louis
Wyoming	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 3	ImmediatelySheridan
New Mexico	A cross reference	Cities count in hours	1 of 4	ImmediatelySanta Fe
Michigan	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	2hMarquette
Maryland	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hAnnapolis
Massachusetts	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hBoston
Pennsylvania	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	3hErie
Virginia	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 7	3hRoanoke
Connecticut	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hDanbury
Ohio	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hAthens
New York	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	4hNew York City
Maine	A city may	Cities count in hours	4 of 8	4hWaterville
Vermont	A city may	Cities count in hours	1 of 6	4hWinooski
Rhode Island	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	5hNewport
Indiana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	6hWest Lafayette
Nebraska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	8hFremont
New Jersey	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	8hJersey City
Utah	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	8hPark City
Iowa	Owner duty, no clock	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	10hAmes
Kansas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	12hSalina
Delaware	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	12hMilford
Washington	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	12hSeattle
California	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 2	12hSouth Lake Tahoe
North Dakota	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hBismarck
Wisconsin	The city clears it	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hGreen Bay
Colorado	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hAurora
Illinois	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hChampaign
Minnesota	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hDuluth
Montana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hBillings
South Dakota	A city may	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hWatertown
Oklahoma	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 7	24hTulsa
West Virginia	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	24hMorgantown
Alaska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hSeward
Idaho	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hIdaho Falls
Texas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 7	24hAmarillo
Arizona	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 5	24hFlagstaff
Oregon	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	2 of 3	None published
Arkansas	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 7	None published
Kentucky	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 3	None published
Tennessee	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	1 of 4	None published
Alabama	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Florida	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Georgia	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Hawaii	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 2	None published
Louisiana	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 6	None published
Mississippi	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Nevada	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
New Hampshire	A city may	No city rule found	0 of 7	None published
North Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 4	None published
South Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published

Michigan sidewalk snow removal questions

How long do you have to shovel your sidewalk in Michigan?

Michigan has no sidewalk clearing statute that any of the codes read here relies on. The clock is a city's instead, and six Michigan cities count in hours. The tightest is Marquette at two hours and the loosest Lansing at a day, a gap of 22 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it. Six Michigan cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Michigan as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Does Michigan have a state law about clearing sidewalks?

Why do two Michigan cities give different deadlines?

A house on one side of a city line in Michigan has two hours and a house on the other has a day, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours. Marquette writes: “When any snow or ice shall cease to fall during the daylight hours, such snow or ice shall be cleared from the sidewalks within two hours after such cessation. When a fall of snow or ice shall have ceased during the nighttime, it shall be cleared from the sidewalks by 10:00 a.m. of the day following.”

Will the city clear my sidewalk in Michigan?

Five Michigan cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty. Marquette sets it out this way: “If any occupant or owner shall neglect or fail to clear ice or snow from the sidewalk adjoining his premises within the time allowed, or shall otherwise permit ice or snow to accumulate on such sidewalk, he shall be guilty of a violation of this article and in addition, the city engineer may cause the same to be cleared and the expense of removal shall become a debt to the city from the occupant or owner of such premises, and shall be collected as any other debt to the city.”

What is the fine for not shovelling a sidewalk in Michigan?

Five Michigan cities print a penalty beside the rule, four of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used. Warren prints not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per violation: “The violation of this section is a municipal civil infraction which shall result in the assessment of a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per violation, plus costs and other sanctions for each infraction.”

Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Michigan?

Which cities in the country give you the least time?

How current is this?

Sidewalk snow removal rules in every state

Michigan ice damsWhat builds at the eaves while the walk is being cleared, and the conditions that put it there.Michigan ground snow loadThe other winter number a city sets and the state usually does not, and who publishes it where.Michigan snowpackWhat is actually on the ground this winter, measured daily, against the years behind it.Michigan frozen pipesThe other thing a long cold spell does to a building, and the temperatures it starts at.

Michigan read September 23, 2026: the municipal code and the city published pages of the 7 cities above. Every deadline, width, penalty and duty above links to the document it was published in and is reproduced in that document’s own wording. An hour count on this site is a sorting key derived from a city’s sentence and never a replacement for it. Councils amend ordinances on their own schedule, so the section linked beside a line is what governs on the day. What a particular property owes, and to whom, is a question for the city that published the ordinance.