Best Places49125, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49125, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
49125 ranks 16,729th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 49125
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.
49125's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49125 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$624 a month, better than 83% of zip codes
Where 49125 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49125
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49125 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $73,519; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 49125's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 49125
49125 runs older 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 49125.
Who works in 49125, and how
Work in 49125 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 49125
49125 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 49125 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 49125, month by month
49125 sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 49125
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49125
Schools across 49125 average a B−, better than 57% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Three Oaks Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fc Reed Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Bridgman High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- River Valley Middlehigh SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49125 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49125 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 49125 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49125
Is 49125 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49125 ranks 16,729th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49125 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,232. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $73,519 median income, cost of living beats 59% of zip codes.
Is 49125 safe?
Yes, 49125 is safer than 80% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare 49125 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49125. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49125 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.
49125 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49125: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49125: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49125: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49125: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49125 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.