Best PlacesEast Hills, Grand Rapids, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Hills, Grand Rapids, 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.
East Hills, Grand Rapids ranks 1,855th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Hills, 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 Hills, Grand Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where East Hills, Grand Rapids ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$776 a month, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where East Hills, Grand Rapids ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East Hills, Grand Rapids
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Hills, Grand Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,854, 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 Hills, Grand Rapids' effective rate of 1.08%, 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 East Hills, Grand Rapids
East Hills, Grand Rapids runs younger 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 East Hills, Grand Rapids.
Who works in East Hills, Grand Rapids, and how
Work in East Hills, Grand Rapids centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in East Hills, Grand Rapids
East Hills, Grand Rapids has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of East Hills, Grand Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Hills, Grand Rapids, month by month
East Hills, 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 Hills, Grand Rapids
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Hills, Grand Rapids
Schools across East Hills, Grand Rapids average a C, better than 34% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Congress ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Martin Luther King Leadership AcademyF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Rapids Public Museum HighC · 34% proficient
- Innovation Central HighD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Hills, Grand Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Hills, 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 Hills, Grand Rapids against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in East Hills, Grand Rapids
Is East Hills, Grand Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Hills, Grand Rapids ranks 1,855th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, population health, and walkability, 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 East Hills, Grand Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $299,097. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $83,854 median income, cost of living beats 64% of neighborhoods.
Is East Hills, Grand Rapids safe?
East Hills, Grand Rapids is safer than 49% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $491 per resident a year.
Compare East Hills, Grand Rapids with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Hills, Grand Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Hills, 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 Hills, Grand Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Hills, Grand Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Hills, Grand Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Hills, Grand Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Hills, Grand Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Hills, 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.