Best PlacesClam River, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clam 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.
Clam River ranks 32,383rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clam 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.
Clam River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clam River ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of towns
Where Clam River ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clam River
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clam River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,555, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Clam River's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Clam River
Clam River 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 Clam River.
Who works in Clam River, and how
Work in Clam River centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Clam River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clam River.
What the weather is like in Clam River, month by month
Clam River sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 19° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Clam River
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clam River
Schools across Clam River average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeland Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- John R Rodger Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cherryland Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Elk Rapids High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Bellaire Middlehigh SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clam River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clam 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 Clam River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clam River
Is Clam River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clam River ranks 32,383rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clam River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $485,590. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $86,555 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Clam River safe?
Clam River is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $927 per resident a year.
Compare Clam River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clam River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clam 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.
Clam River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clam River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clam River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clam River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clam River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clam 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.