Best Places48218, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48218, 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.
48218 ranks 32,512th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 48218
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.
48218's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48218 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 48218 ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Household income$42,967 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48218
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48218 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,967, 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 48218's effective rate of 2.30%, 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 48218
48218 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48218.
Who works in 48218, and how
Work in 48218 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 48218
48218 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 48218 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 48218, month by month
48218 sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 48218
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 48218
Schools across 48218 average an F, better than 1% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- River Rouge Stem Academy At DunnD− · 12% proficient
- Ralph J Bunche AcademyF · 10% proficient
- Ann Visger K5 Preparatory AcademyF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cb Sabbath 68 Preparatory AcademyF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Ecorse Community High SchoolF · 9% proficient
- River Rouge High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48218 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48218 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 48218 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 48218
Is 48218 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48218 ranks 32,512th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, walkability, and biking, and lowest on the schools and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 48218 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $64,460. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $42,967 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 48218 safe?
48218 is safer than 4% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $878 per resident a year.
Compare 48218 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48218. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48218 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.
48218 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48218: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48218: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48218: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48218: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48218 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.