Best Places48197, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48197, 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.
48197 ranks 10,773rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48197
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.
48197's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48197 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 48197 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 18% 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
What it costs to buy a home in 48197
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48197 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,027, 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 48197's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 48197
48197 runs younger 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 48197.
Who works in 48197, and how
Work in 48197 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 48197
48197 has more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 48197 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48197, month by month
48197 sees roughly 81 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 48197
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 14 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 48197
Schools across 48197 average a C, better than 40% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Burns Park Elementary SchoolA · 72% proficient
- South Arbor Charter AcademyA · 63% proficient
- Ann Arbor Open At Mack SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washtenaw International Middle AcademyA+ · 75% proficient
- Tappan Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Scarlett Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Washtenaw International High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Huron High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Early College AllianceB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48197 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48197 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 48197 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48197 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 48197
Is 48197 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48197 ranks 10,773rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and biking, 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 48197 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,702. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $88,027 median income, cost of living beats 69% of zip codes.
Is 48197 safe?
48197 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $408 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48197?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 20. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of zip codes.
Is 48197 good for families?
Schools beat 40% of zip codes, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $1,094 a month.
Compare 48197 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48197. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48197 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.
48197 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48197: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48197: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48197: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48197: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48197 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.