Best PlacesCornell, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cornell, 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.
Cornell ranks 28,919th 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 Cornell
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.
Cornell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cornell ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
Where Cornell ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cornell
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cornell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,331, 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 Cornell's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cornell
Cornell runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cornell.
Who works in Cornell, and how
Work in Cornell centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cornell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cornell.
What the weather is like in Cornell, month by month
Cornell sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Cornell
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 207 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cornell
Schools across Cornell average a C−, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wells Township SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Aspen Ridge Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Escanaba Upper ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gladstone Area Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Gladstone Area High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Escanaba Juniorsenior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Westwood High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cornell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cornell 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 Cornell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cornell
Is Cornell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cornell ranks 28,919th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and heat safety, 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 Cornell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,049. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $70,331 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Cornell safe?
Yes, Cornell is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Cornell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cornell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cornell 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.
Cornell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cornell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cornell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cornell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cornell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cornell 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.