Best Places48205, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48205, 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.
48205 ranks 32,801st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 48205
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.
48205's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48205 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 48205 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$41,535 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48205
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48205 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $41,535, 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 48205's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 48205
48205 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48205.
Who works in 48205, and how
Work in 48205 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 48205
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 48205.
What the weather is like in 48205, month by month
48205 sees roughly 80 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 48205
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 48205
Schools across 48205 average a D−, better than 3% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Heritage Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Edward Duke Ellington At BeckhamD+ · 25% proficient
- Pulaski Elementarymiddle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- River Valley Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Fisher Magnet Upper AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Lincoln Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- River Valley High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Denby High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Harper Woods High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48205 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48205 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 48205 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48205 suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 48205
Is 48205 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48205 ranks 32,801st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and walkability, and lowest on car insurance costs and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 48205 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $65,700. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $41,535 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 48205 safe?
48205 is safer than 1% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48205?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 21. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of zip codes.
Is 48205 good for families?
Schools beat 3% of zip codes, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $834 a month.
Compare 48205 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48205. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48205 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.
48205 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48205: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48205: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48205: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48205: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48205 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.