Best Places49654, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49654, 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.
49654 ranks 4,833rd 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 49654
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.
49654's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49654 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 49654 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49654
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49654 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,331, 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 49654's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 49654
49654 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 49654.
Who works in 49654, and how
Work in 49654 centers on health care & social and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 49654
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49654.
What the weather is like in 49654, month by month
49654 sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 49654
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 179 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49654
Schools across 49654 average a B−, better than 57% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Charlevoix Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Frankfort Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Suttons Bay Elementary Middle SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Charlevoix Middle High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49654 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49654 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 49654 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49654
Is 49654 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49654 ranks 4,833rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and quiet, and lowest on car insurance costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49654 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $645,668. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $114,331 median income, cost of living beats 87% of zip codes.
Is 49654 safe?
Yes, 49654 is safer than 77% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare 49654 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49654. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49654 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.
49654 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49654: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49654: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49654: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49654: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49654 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.