Best Places49806, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49806, 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.
49806 ranks 18,764th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 49806
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.
49806's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49806 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 49806 ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49806
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49806 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,654, 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 49806's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 49806
49806 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 49806.
Who works in 49806, and how
Work in 49806 centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 49806
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49806.
What the weather is like in 49806, month by month
49806 sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| July | 77° | 65° | 55° |
| October | 55° | 46° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 49806
The nearest airport, Marquette/Sawyer Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 246 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49806
Schools across 49806 average a C+, better than 44% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Autrainonota Public SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49806 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49806 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 49806 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49806
Is 49806 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49806 ranks 18,764th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, and health care access, and lowest on distance from a big city and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 49806 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,062. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,654 median income, cost of living beats 44% of zip codes.
Is 49806 safe?
Yes, 49806 is safer than 63% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
Compare 49806 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49806. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49806 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.
49806 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49806: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49806: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49806: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49806: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49806 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.