Best PlacesColdwater, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Coldwater, 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.
Coldwater ranks 30,397th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Coldwater
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.
Coldwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Coldwater ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap childcare$577 a month, better than 81% of towns
Where Coldwater ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Coldwater
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Coldwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,579, 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 Coldwater's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Coldwater
Coldwater runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Coldwater.
Who works in Coldwater, and how
Work in Coldwater 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 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Coldwater
Coldwater has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Coldwater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Coldwater, month by month
Coldwater sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Coldwater
The nearest airport, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Coldwater
Schools across Coldwater average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fremont Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Jennings Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Hughes Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fremont Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Union City Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Legg Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Fremont High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Marshall High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Bronson Jrsr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Coldwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Coldwater 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 Coldwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Coldwater suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Coldwater
Is Coldwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Coldwater ranks 30,397th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, short commutes, and biking, and lowest on car insurance costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Coldwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,864. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $60,579 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Coldwater safe?
Yes, Coldwater is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Coldwater?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 21. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of towns.
Is Coldwater good for families?
Schools beat 26% of towns, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $577 a month.
Compare Coldwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Coldwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Coldwater 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.
Coldwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Coldwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Coldwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Coldwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Coldwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Coldwater 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.