Best Places49453, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49453, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
49453 ranks 7,942nd 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 49453
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.
49453's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49453 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 49453 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49453
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49453 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $110,570, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 49453's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 49453
49453 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 49453.
Who works in 49453, and how
Work in 49453 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 49453
49453 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 99% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 49453 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 49453, month by month
49453 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 49453
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49453
Schools across 49453 average a B, better than 63% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Douglas Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Blue Star Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saugatuck Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Saugatuck High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49453 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49453 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 49453 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49453
Is 49453 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49453 ranks 7,942nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and an educated workforce, 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 49453 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $495,880. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $110,570 median income, cost of living beats 88% of zip codes.
Is 49453 safe?
Yes, 49453 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare 49453 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49453. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49453 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.
49453 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49453: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49453: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49453: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49453: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49453 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.