Best PlacesAntrim County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Antrim County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Antrim County ranks 1,661st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Antrim County
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.
The best areas in Antrim County
The parts of Antrim County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Elk Rapids
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and health care is easier to reach.
Bellaire
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Mancelona
Homes cost less, though tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Antrim County run from about the 9th to the 74th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Antrim County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Antrim County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 92% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of counties
Where Antrim County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Antrim County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Antrim County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $74,015; 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 Antrim County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Antrim County
Antrim County 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 Antrim County.
Who works in Antrim County, and how
Work in Antrim County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Antrim County
Antrim County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Antrim County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Antrim County growing, and who is moving in?
Antrim County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Traverse City, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Antrim County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Antrim County, month by month
Antrim County sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 19° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Antrim County
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Antrim County
Schools across Antrim County average a C−, better than 28% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Boyne City Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Lakeland Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Charlevoix Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cherryland Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Boyne City Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Mancelona Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Elk Rapids High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Charlevoix Middle High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Gaylord High Schoolvoc BldgB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Antrim County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Antrim County 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 Antrim County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Antrim County suits
Families
Schools land around the 28th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of counties, health care access beats 99%, and it is quieter than 92%.
Common questions about living in Antrim County
Is Antrim County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Antrim County ranks 1,661st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Antrim County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,394. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $74,015 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Antrim County safe?
Yes, Antrim County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Antrim County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 19. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Antrim County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Elk Rapids, Bellaire, and Mancelona. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Antrim County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Antrim County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Antrim County 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.
Antrim County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Antrim County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Antrim County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Antrim County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Antrim County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Antrim County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.