Best PlacesEast Grand Rapids, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Grand Rapids, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
East Grand Rapids ranks 120th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Grand Rapids
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.
East Grand Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where East Grand Rapids ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
Where East Grand Rapids ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Grand Rapids
A household needs to earn about $155,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Grand Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $167,991, 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 East Grand Rapids' effective rate of 1.39%, 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 East Grand Rapids
East Grand Rapids runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Grand Rapids.
Who works in East Grand Rapids, and how
Work in East Grand Rapids centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East Grand Rapids
East Grand Rapids has more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of East Grand Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Grand Rapids, month by month
East Grand Rapids sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East Grand Rapids
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Grand Rapids
Schools across East Grand Rapids average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeside SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Collins Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Wealthy SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Grand Rapids Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Northern Hills Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- East Grand Rapids High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Northern High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Grand Rapids Public Museum HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Grand Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Grand Rapids 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 East Grand Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Grand Rapids
Is East Grand Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Grand Rapids ranks 120th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, biking, and what local pay buys, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Grand Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $549,612. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $167,991 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is East Grand Rapids safe?
Yes, East Grand Rapids is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare East Grand Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Grand Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Grand Rapids 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.
East Grand Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Grand Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Grand Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Grand Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Grand Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Grand Rapids 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.