Best Places48178, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48178, 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.
48178 ranks 2,350th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48178
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.
48178's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48178 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$138,547 median, better than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 48178 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Short commute31.7 minutes each way, better than only 21% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48178
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48178 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $138,547, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 48178's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 48178
48178 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48178.
Who works in 48178, and how
Work in 48178 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 48178
48178 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 48178 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48178, month by month
48178 sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 48178
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 23 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 48178
Schools across 48178 average a B, better than 68% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Deerfield Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Spencer Road Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Logan Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Novi Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Maltby Intermediate SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Millennium Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Huron High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Brighton High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- South Lyon High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48178 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48178 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 48178 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48178 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 48178
Is 48178 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48178 ranks 2,350th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on car insurance costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 48178 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $412,841. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $138,547 median income, cost of living beats 96% of zip codes.
Is 48178 safe?
Yes, 48178 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $198 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48178?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 20. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of zip codes.
Is 48178 good for families?
Schools beat 68% of zip codes, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $945 a month.
Compare 48178 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48178. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48178 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.
48178 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48178: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48178: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48178: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48178: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48178 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.