Best Places48126, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48126, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
48126 ranks 28,521st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48126
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.
48126's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48126 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 94% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 86% of zip codes
Where 48126 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Household income$45,236 median, better than only 7% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48126
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48126 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $45,236, 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 48126's effective rate of 1.47%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 48126
48126 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48126.
Who works in 48126, and how
Work in 48126 centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 48126
48126 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 67% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 48126 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48126, month by month
48126 sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 48126
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 12 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 48126
Schools across 48126 average a C+, better than 62% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Duvall Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Lowrey Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Iris Becker Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dearborn Stem Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Lowrey Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Unis Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Henry Ford Early Collegeadvanced ManufacturingC · 32% proficient
- Fordson High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Riverside Academy West CampusF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48126 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48126 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 48126 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48126 suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 48126
Is 48126 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48126 ranks 28,521st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, low disaster risk, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 48126 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,558. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $45,236 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 48126 safe?
48126 is safer than 8% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $711 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48126?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 21. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of zip codes.
Is 48126 good for families?
Schools beat 62% of zip codes, crime safety beats 8%, and childcare runs $834 a month.
Compare 48126 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48126. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48126 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.
48126 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48126: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48126: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48126: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48126: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48126 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.