Best PlacesAllendale, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Allendale, 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.
Allendale ranks 908th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Allendale
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.
Allendale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Allendale ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- QuietBetter than 90% of cities
- Cheap childcare$741 a month, better than 86% of cities
Where Allendale ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Allendale
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Allendale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,362, 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 Allendale's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Allendale
Allendale runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Allendale.
Who works in Allendale, and how
Work in Allendale centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Allendale
Allendale has more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Allendale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Allendale, month by month
Allendale sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Allendale
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Allendale
Schools across Allendale average a B+, better than 70% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Robinson SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Evergreen ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Bauer Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- White Pines Intermediate SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Baldwin Street Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Creekside Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Hudsonville High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Allendale High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Grand Haven High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Allendale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Allendale 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 Allendale against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Allendale suits
Common questions about living in Allendale
Is Allendale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Allendale ranks 908th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Allendale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,957. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $75,362 median income, cost of living beats 25% of cities.
Is Allendale safe?
Yes, Allendale is safer than 100% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $134 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Allendale?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 21. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of cities.
Is Allendale good for families?
Schools beat 70% of cities, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Compare Allendale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Allendale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Allendale 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.
Allendale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Allendale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Allendale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Allendale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Allendale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Allendale 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.