Best Places48118, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48118, 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.
48118 ranks 6,364th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48118
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.
48118's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48118 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 48118 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,094 a month, better than only 25% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48118
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48118 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $103,518; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 48118's effective rate of 1.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 48118
48118 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 48118.
Who works in 48118, and how
Work in 48118 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 48118
48118 has more parkland per resident than 87% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 48118 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48118, month by month
48118 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 57° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 48118
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 36 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 48118
Schools across 48118 average a B, better than 68% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wylie Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- South Meadows Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- George Long Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beach Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Creekside Intermediate SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Grass Lake Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Dexter High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Chelsea High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Grass Lake High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48118 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48118 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 48118 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 48118
Is 48118 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48118 ranks 6,364th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and an educated workforce, 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 48118 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $369,800. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $103,518 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 48118 safe?
Yes, 48118 is safer than 62% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
Compare 48118 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48118. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48118 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.
48118 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48118: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48118: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48118: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48118: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48118 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.