Best Places49277, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49277, 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.
49277 ranks 10,965th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 49277
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.
49277's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49277 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 89% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 49277 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 18% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49277
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49277 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,756, 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 49277's effective rate of 1.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 49277
49277 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 49277.
Who works in 49277, and how
Work in 49277 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 49277
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49277.
What the weather is like in 49277, month by month
49277 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 49277
The nearest airport, Capital Region International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49277
Schools across 49277 average a C−, better than 18% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Woodworth Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Northwest Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Leslie Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Northwest Kidder Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwest High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Leslie High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49277 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49277 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 49277 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49277
Is 49277 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49277 ranks 10,965th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a stable housing market, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49277 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,472. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $105,756 median income, cost of living beats 91% of zip codes.
Is 49277 safe?
Yes, 49277 is safer than 90% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare 49277 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49277. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49277 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.
49277 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49277: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49277: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49277: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49277: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49277 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.