Best PlacesDelta County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Delta County, 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.
Delta County ranks 1,882nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Delta County
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.
Delta County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Delta County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of counties
Where Delta County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Delta County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delta County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,382, 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 Delta County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Delta County
Delta County 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 Delta County.
Who works in Delta County, and how
Work in Delta County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Delta County
Delta County has more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Delta County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Delta County growing, and who is moving in?
Delta County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Owensboro, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Delta County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Delta County, month by month
Delta County 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 Delta County
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around Delta County
Schools across Delta County average a C, better than 33% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wells Township SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Bark Riverharris Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Escanaba Upper ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gladstone Area Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Gladstone Area High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Manistique Middle And High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Escanaba Juniorsenior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delta County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delta County 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 Delta County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Delta County suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 56%.
Retirees
The weather beats 73% of counties, health care access beats 88%, and it is quieter than 57%.
Common questions about living in Delta County
Is Delta County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delta County ranks 1,882nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Delta County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,590. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,382 median income, cost of living beats 35% of counties.
Is Delta County safe?
Yes, Delta County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $397 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delta County?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 12. That works out to about 118 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of counties.
Is Delta County good for families?
Schools beat 33% of counties, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $734 a month.
Compare Delta County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delta County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delta County 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.
Delta County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delta County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delta County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delta County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delta County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delta County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.