Best PlacesEast Lansing, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Lansing, 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 Lansing ranks 1,230th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Lansing
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 Lansing's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Lansing ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of cities
Where East Lansing ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in East Lansing
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Lansing home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,007, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Lansing's effective rate of 1.74%, 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 Lansing
East Lansing 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 Lansing.
Who works in East Lansing, and how
Work in East Lansing centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in East Lansing
East Lansing has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Lansing and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Lansing, month by month
East Lansing sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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 | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East Lansing
The nearest airport, Capital Region International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Lansing
Schools across East Lansing average an A−, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Whitehills Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Glencairn SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Robert L Green ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kinawa SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Haslett Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Macdonald Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- East Lansing High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Okemos High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Haslett High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Lansing school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Lansing 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 Lansing against the other 2,097 cities.
Who East Lansing suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in East Lansing
Is East Lansing a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Lansing ranks 1,230th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, short commutes, and heat safety, 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 Lansing expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,589. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,007 median income, cost of living beats 23% of cities.
Is East Lansing safe?
East Lansing is safer than 28% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $443 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in East Lansing?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of cities.
Is East Lansing good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Compare East Lansing with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Lansing. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Lansing 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 Lansing detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Lansing: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Lansing: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Lansing: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Lansing: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Lansing 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.