Best PlacesCentennial Heights, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Centennial Heights, 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.
Centennial Heights ranks 27,513th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Centennial Heights
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.
Centennial Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Centennial Heights ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Centennial Heights ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Centennial Heights
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Centennial Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,635, 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 Centennial Heights' 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 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 Centennial Heights
Centennial Heights 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 Centennial Heights.
Who works in Centennial Heights, and how
Work in Centennial Heights centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Centennial Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Centennial Heights.
What the weather is like in Centennial Heights, month by month
Centennial Heights sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 20° | 13° |
| April | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Centennial Heights
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 281 miles away.
The best schools in and around Centennial Heights
Schools across Centennial Heights average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clk Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Calumet High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Centennial Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Centennial Heights 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 Centennial Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Centennial Heights
Is Centennial Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Centennial Heights ranks 27,513th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on distance from a big city and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Centennial Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,490. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $59,635 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Centennial Heights safe?
Centennial Heights is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $511 per resident a year.
Compare Centennial Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Centennial Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Centennial Heights 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.
Centennial Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Centennial Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Centennial Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Centennial Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Centennial Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Centennial Heights 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.