Best Places49720, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49720, 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.
49720 ranks 11,927th 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 49720
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.
49720's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49720 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 49720 ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49720
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49720 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,542; 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 49720's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 49720
49720 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 49720.
Who works in 49720, and how
Work in 49720 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 49720
49720 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 85% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 49720 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 49720, month by month
49720 sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 80° | 69° | 60° |
| October | 60° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 49720
The nearest airport, Pellston Regional/Emmet County, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49720
Schools across 49720 average a B, better than 61% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Boyne City Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Charlevoix Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harbor Springs Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- Boyne City Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Charlevoix Middle High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Boyne City High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Harbor Springs High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49720 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49720 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 49720 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49720
Is 49720 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49720 ranks 11,927th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and short commutes, and lowest on car insurance costs and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49720 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,780. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $79,542 median income, cost of living beats 58% of zip codes.
Is 49720 safe?
Yes, 49720 is safer than 66% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare 49720 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49720. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49720 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.
49720 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49720: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49720: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49720: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49720: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49720 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.