Best PlacesCathro, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cathro, 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.
Cathro ranks 34,323rd 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 Cathro
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.
Cathro's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cathro ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$561 a month, better than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
Where Cathro ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cathro
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cathro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,197, 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 Cathro's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cathro
Cathro 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 Cathro.
Who works in Cathro, and how
Work in Cathro centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Cathro
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cathro.
What the weather is like in Cathro, month by month
Cathro sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 70° | 56° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Cathro
The nearest airport, Alpena County Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 203 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cathro
Schools across Cathro average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Posen Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Besser Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Ella M White ElementaryC− · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thunder Bay Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Alpena High SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Posen Consolidated High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cathro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cathro 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 Cathro against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cathro
Is Cathro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cathro ranks 34,323rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and affordable childcare, 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 Cathro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,868. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $58,197 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Cathro safe?
Yes, Cathro is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
Compare Cathro with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cathro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cathro 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.
Cathro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cathro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cathro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cathro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cathro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cathro 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.