Best PlacesCurtis, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Curtis, 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.
Curtis ranks 32,185th 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 Curtis
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.
Curtis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Curtis ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
Where Curtis ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Curtis
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Curtis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,835, 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 Curtis' effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Curtis
Curtis 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 Curtis.
Who works in Curtis, and how
Work in Curtis centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Curtis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Curtis.
What the weather is like in Curtis, month by month
Curtis sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 20° | 14° |
| April | 47° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 78° | 66° | 56° |
| October | 55° | 47° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Curtis
The nearest airport, Chippewa County International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 249 miles away.
The best schools in and around Curtis
Schools across Curtis average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Emerald Elementary SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Three Lakes AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Manistique Middle And High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Curtis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Curtis 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 Curtis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Curtis
Is Curtis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Curtis ranks 32,185th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, 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 Curtis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,804. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $69,835 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Curtis safe?
Curtis is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
Compare Curtis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Curtis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Curtis 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.
Curtis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Curtis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Curtis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Curtis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Curtis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Curtis 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.