Best PlacesApplegate, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Applegate, 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.
Applegate ranks 28,547th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Applegate
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.
Applegate's strengths and weaknesses
Where Applegate ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$571 a month, better than 82% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Applegate ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute36.7 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Applegate
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Applegate home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,441, 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 Applegate'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Applegate
Applegate 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 Applegate.
Who works in Applegate, and how
Work in Applegate centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Applegate
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Applegate.
What the weather is like in Applegate, month by month
Applegate sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Applegate
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Applegate
Schools across Applegate average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meyer Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Frostick SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Sandusky Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Croswelllexington Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandusky Juniorsenior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Croswelllexington High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Peck Jrsr High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Applegate school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Applegate 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 Applegate against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Applegate
Is Applegate a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Applegate ranks 28,547th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Applegate expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,782. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $64,441 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Applegate safe?
Yes, Applegate is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Applegate with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Applegate. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Applegate 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.
Applegate detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Applegate: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Applegate: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Applegate: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Applegate: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Applegate 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.