Best Places49861, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 49861, 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.
49861 ranks 27,659th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 49861
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.
49861's strengths and weaknesses
Where 49861 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of zip codes
Where 49861 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 49861
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 49861 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,387, 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 49861's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 49861
49861 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 49861.
Who works in 49861, and how
Work in 49861 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 49861
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 49861.
What the weather is like in 49861, month by month
49861 sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 46° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 77° | 66° | 56° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 49861
The nearest airport, Marquette/Sawyer Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 248 miles away.
The best schools in and around 49861
Schools across 49861 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Arvon Township SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Aspen Ridge Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Powell Twp Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Negaunee High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Ishpeming High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Westwood High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 49861 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
49861 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 49861 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 49861
Is 49861 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 49861 ranks 27,659th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds 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 49861 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,400. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $56,387 median income, cost of living beats 14% of zip codes.
Is 49861 safe?
49861 is safer than 49% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
Compare 49861 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 49861. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 49861 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.
49861 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 49861: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 49861: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 49861: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 49861: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
49861 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.