Best Places49642, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49642, 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.
49642 ranks 32,296th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 49642
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.
49642's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49642 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 67% of zip codes
Where 49642 ranks low
- Short commute42.5 minutes each way, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$31,986 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49642
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49642 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $31,986; 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 49642's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 49642
49642 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 49642.
Who works in 49642, and how
Work in 49642 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 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 49642
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49642.
What the weather is like in 49642, month by month
49642 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 49642
The nearest airport, Manistee County/Blacker, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49642
Schools across 49642 average a D−, better than 4% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Baldwin Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Baldwin Junior High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Baldwin Senior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49642 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49642 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 49642 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49642
Is 49642 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49642 ranks 32,296th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49642 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,688. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $31,986 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 49642 safe?
49642 is safer than 12% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $600 per resident a year.
Compare 49642 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49642. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49642 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.
49642 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49642: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49642: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49642: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49642: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49642 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.