Best PlacesDollar Bay, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dollar Bay, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dollar Bay ranks 12,124th 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 Dollar Bay
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.
Dollar Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dollar Bay ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute13.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
Where Dollar Bay ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dollar Bay
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dollar Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,776, 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 Dollar Bay'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 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 Dollar Bay
Dollar Bay runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dollar Bay.
Who works in Dollar Bay, and how
Work in Dollar Bay centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Dollar Bay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dollar Bay.
What the weather is like in Dollar Bay, month by month
Dollar Bay sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 20° | 13° |
| April | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Dollar Bay
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 274 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dollar Bay
Schools across Dollar Bay average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Houghton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Clk Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Houghton Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Houghton Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dollar Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dollar Bay 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 Dollar Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dollar Bay
Is Dollar Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dollar Bay ranks 12,124th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and short commutes, 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 Dollar Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,179. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $68,776 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Dollar Bay safe?
Dollar Bay is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $361 per resident a year.
Compare Dollar Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dollar Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dollar Bay 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.
Dollar Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dollar Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dollar Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dollar Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dollar Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dollar Bay 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.