Best PlacesBuchanan, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buchanan, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buchanan ranks 17,619th 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 Buchanan
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.
Buchanan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buchanan ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
Where Buchanan ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buchanan
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buchanan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,406, 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 Buchanan's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Buchanan
Buchanan runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buchanan.
Who works in Buchanan, and how
Work in Buchanan centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Buchanan
Buchanan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Buchanan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buchanan, month by month
Buchanan sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Buchanan
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buchanan
Schools across Buchanan average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Moccasin Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Three Oaks Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Sylvester Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fc Reed Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Buchanan Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Berrien Springs Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Bridgman High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Berrien Springs High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Buchanan High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buchanan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buchanan 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 Buchanan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buchanan
Is Buchanan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buchanan ranks 17,619th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, walkability, and big-city access, and lowest on car insurance costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buchanan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,962. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $66,406 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Buchanan safe?
Yes, Buchanan is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Buchanan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buchanan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buchanan 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.
Buchanan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buchanan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buchanan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buchanan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buchanan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buchanan 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.