Best PlacesBark River, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bark River, 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.
Bark River ranks 22,684th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bark River
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.
Bark River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bark River ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
Where Bark River ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bark River
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bark River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,777, 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 Bark River'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bark River
Bark River 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 Bark River.
Who works in Bark River, and how
Work in Bark River centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bark River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bark River.
What the weather is like in Bark River, month by month
Bark River sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Bark River
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 8 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 Bark River
Schools across Bark River average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wells Township SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Bark Riverharris Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Escanaba Upper ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Escanaba Juniorsenior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- North Central Area Senior High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Norway High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bark River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bark River 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 Bark River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bark River
Is Bark River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bark River ranks 22,684th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and heat safety, and lowest on car insurance costs 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 Bark River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,440. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,777 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Bark River safe?
Yes, Bark River is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Bark River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bark River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bark River 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.
Bark River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bark River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bark River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bark River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bark River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bark River 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.