Best Places49449, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49449, 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.
49449 ranks 17,547th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 49449
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.
49449's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49449 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 49449 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49449
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49449 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,519; 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 49449's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 49449
49449 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 49449.
Who works in 49449, and how
Work in 49449 centers on education 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 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 49449
49449 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 49449 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 49449, month by month
49449 sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 26° | 22° |
| April | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 79° | 69° | 60° |
| October | 60° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 49449
The nearest airport, Manistee County/Blacker, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49449
Schools across 49449 average a C+, better than 49% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ludington Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Mason County Central Upper ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Spitler Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mason County Central MsD+ · 25% proficient
- Hart Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Ludington High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Hart High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49449 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49449 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 49449 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49449
Is 49449 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49449 ranks 17,547th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market 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 49449 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,110. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $78,519 median income, cost of living beats 59% of zip codes.
Is 49449 safe?
49449 is safer than 47% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $360 per resident a year.
Compare 49449 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49449. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49449 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.
49449 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49449: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49449: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49449: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49449: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49449 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.