Best PlacesCass County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cass 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.
Cass County ranks 1,367th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Cass 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 Cass County
The parts of Cass 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.
Niles
Local pay stretches further, fewer homes sit empty, and incomes run higher.
Edwardsburg
Crime runs lower and schools score higher.
Union
More households have young kids and it is quieter.
Dowagiac
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Marcellus
Tree cover is thicker and prices have run up less.
Cassopolis
Homes cost less, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Cass County run from about the 10th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cass County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cass County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 81% of counties
Where Cass County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cass County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cass County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,786, 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 Cass County's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Cass County
Cass 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 Cass County.
Who works in Cass County, and how
Work in Cass County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cass County
Cass County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cass County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cass County growing, and who is moving in?
Cass County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Niles, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cass County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cass County, month by month
Cass County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 83° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 63° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Cass County
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cass County
Schools across Cass County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Edwardsburg Intermediate SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Norton Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Edwardsburg Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Northridge Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Three Rivers Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Northridge High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Edwardsburg High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Elkhart High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cass County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cass 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 Cass County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cass County suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 91%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cass County
Is Cass County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cass County ranks 1,367th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cass County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,859. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $73,786 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Cass County safe?
Yes, Cass County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cass County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 22. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cass County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Niles, Edwardsburg, and Union. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cass County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cass County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cass 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.
Cass County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cass County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cass County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cass County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cass County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cass 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.