Best Places48235, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 48235, 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.
48235 ranks 32,289th 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 48235
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.
48235's strengths and weaknesses
Where 48235 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 48235 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$42,014 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 48235
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 48235 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,014, 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 48235's effective rate of 1.63%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 48235
48235's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 48235.
Who works in 48235, and how
Work in 48235 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 48235
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 48235.
What the weather is like in 48235, month by month
48235 sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 23° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 48235
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 17 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 48235
Schools across 48235 average a D+, better than 12% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Martin Luther King Jr Education Center AcademyC+ · 38% proficient
- Foreign Language Immersion And Cultural StudiesC+ · 35% proficient
- Bates AcademyC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Ferndale High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Renaissance High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Mumford High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 48235 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
48235 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 48235 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 48235 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 48235
Is 48235 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 48235 ranks 32,289th 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 48235 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $97,790. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $42,014 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 48235 safe?
48235 is safer than 1% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,184 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 48235?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 23. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of zip codes.
Is 48235 good for families?
Schools beat 12% of zip codes, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $834 a month.
Compare 48235 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 48235. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 48235 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.
48235 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 48235: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 48235: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 48235: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 48235: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
48235 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.