Best Places49689, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49689, 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.
49689 ranks 26,150th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 49689
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.
49689's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49689 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 73% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 72% of zip codes
Where 49689 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49689
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49689 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,141, 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 49689's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 49689
49689 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 49689.
Who works in 49689, and how
Work in 49689 centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 49689
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49689.
What the weather is like in 49689, month by month
49689 sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 49689
The nearest airport, Manistee County/Blacker, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49689
Schools across 49689 average a D+, better than 12% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Forest View Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Floyd M Jewett Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- John F Kennedy Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mackinaw Trail Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Brethren Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Cadillac Senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Manistee Middle High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Mesick Consolidated Jrsr High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49689 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49689 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 49689 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49689
Is 49689 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49689 ranks 26,150th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on car insurance costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49689 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,803. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,141 median income, cost of living beats 30% of zip codes.
Is 49689 safe?
49689 is safer than 48% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare 49689 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49689. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49689 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.
49689 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49689: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49689: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49689: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49689: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49689 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.