Best Places48009, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48009, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
48009 ranks 694th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48009
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
48009's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48009 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$169,354 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 48009 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48009
A household needs to earn about $204,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48009 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $169,354, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 48009's effective rate of 1.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 48009
48009 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48009.
Who works in 48009, and how
Work in 48009 centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 48009
48009 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 85% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 48009 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48009, month by month
48009 sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 23° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 48009
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 168 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 48009
Schools across 48009 average a B+, better than 80% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Schroeder Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Harlan Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Pierce Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boulan Park Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Birmingham Covington SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Derby Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Troy High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Ernest W Seaholm High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Royal Oak High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48009 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48009 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 48009 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48009 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 59% of zip codes and health care access beats 99%.
Common questions about living in 48009
Is 48009 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48009 ranks 694th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, health care access, and high incomes, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 48009 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $712,223. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $169,354 median income, cost of living beats 95% of zip codes.
Is 48009 safe?
Yes, 48009 is safer than 61% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $290 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48009?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 23. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 59% of zip codes.
Is 48009 good for families?
Schools beat 80% of zip codes, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $916 a month.
Compare 48009 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48009. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48009 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
48009 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48009: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48009: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48009: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48009: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48009 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.