Best PlacesElberta, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elberta, 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.
Elberta ranks 16,846th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elberta
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.
Elberta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elberta ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute15.6 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
Where Elberta ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elberta
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elberta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,472, 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 Elberta's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Elberta
Elberta 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 Elberta.
Who works in Elberta, and how
Work in Elberta centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Elberta
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elberta.
What the weather is like in Elberta, month by month
Elberta sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 26° | 22° |
| April | 52° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 78° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 59° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Elberta
The nearest airport, Manistee County/Blacker, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elberta
Schools across Elberta average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Frankfort Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Frankfort High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elberta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elberta 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 Elberta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elberta
Is Elberta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elberta ranks 16,846th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low disaster risk, and short commutes, 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 Elberta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,304. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $66,472 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Elberta safe?
Elberta is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
Compare Elberta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elberta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elberta 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.
Elberta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elberta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elberta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elberta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elberta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elberta 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.