Best Places49261, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49261, 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.
49261 ranks 13,776th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 49261
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.
49261's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49261 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 89% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 88% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 49261 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 13% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 30% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49261
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49261 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,093, 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 49261's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 49261
49261'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 49261.
Who works in 49261, and how
Work in 49261 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 49261
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49261.
What the weather is like in 49261, month by month
49261 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 49261
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 46 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 49261
Schools across 49261 average a C, better than 30% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ezra Eby Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Napoleon Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Napoleon High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49261 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49261 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 49261 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49261
Is 49261 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49261 ranks 13,776th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, affordable childcare, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49261 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,224. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $74,093 median income, cost of living beats 56% of zip codes.
Is 49261 safe?
Yes, 49261 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
Compare 49261 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49261. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49261 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.
49261 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49261: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49261: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49261: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49261: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49261 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.