Best PlacesBuckhorn, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buckhorn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buckhorn ranks 508th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buckhorn
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.
Buckhorn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buckhorn ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$152,890 median, better than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
Where Buckhorn ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buckhorn
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buckhorn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $152,890, 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 Buckhorn's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Buckhorn
Buckhorn runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buckhorn.
Who works in Buckhorn, and how
Work in Buckhorn centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Buckhorn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buckhorn.
What the weather is like in Buckhorn, month by month
Buckhorn sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Buckhorn
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 21 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 Buckhorn
Schools across Buckhorn average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hollywood Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Clarke SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- River SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Upton Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Berrien Springs Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Eau Claire Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeshore High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- St Joseph High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Berrien Springs High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buckhorn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buckhorn 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 Buckhorn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buckhorn
Is Buckhorn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buckhorn ranks 508th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, low crime, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buckhorn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $386,771. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $152,890 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Buckhorn safe?
Yes, Buckhorn is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $139 per resident a year.
Compare Buckhorn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buckhorn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buckhorn 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.
Buckhorn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buckhorn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buckhorn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buckhorn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buckhorn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buckhorn 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.