Best PlacesCedar River, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cedar 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.
Cedar River ranks 27,626th 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 Cedar 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.
Cedar River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cedar River ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
Where Cedar River ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cedar River
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cedar River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,520, 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 Cedar River's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Cedar River
Cedar River runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cedar River.
Who works in Cedar River, and how
Work in Cedar River centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cedar River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cedar River.
What the weather is like in Cedar River, month by month
Cedar River sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Cedar River
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cedar River
Schools across Cedar River average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bark Riverharris Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Washington Island ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
- North Central Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- North Central Area Senior High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Bark Riverharris Jrsr High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Menominee High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cedar River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cedar 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 Cedar River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cedar River
Is Cedar River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cedar River ranks 27,626th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, 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 Cedar River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,138. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $67,520 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Cedar River safe?
Yes, Cedar River is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Cedar River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cedar River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cedar 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.
Cedar River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cedar River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cedar River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cedar River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cedar River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cedar 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.