Best PlacesGenesee, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Genesee, 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.
Genesee ranks 39,315th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Car insurance costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Genesee
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.
Genesee's strengths and weaknesses
Where Genesee ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 75% of towns
Where Genesee ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute41.2 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Genesee
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Genesee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,676, 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 Genesee's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Genesee
Genesee runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Genesee.
Who works in Genesee, and how
Work in Genesee centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Genesee
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Genesee.
What the weather is like in Genesee, month by month
Genesee sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Genesee
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Genesee
Schools across Genesee average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Haas Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Armstrong Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Lakeville Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Kearsley High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Lakeville High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Genesee High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Genesee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Genesee 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 Genesee against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Genesee
Is Genesee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Genesee ranks 39,315th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and few empty homes, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Genesee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,216. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $65,676 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Genesee safe?
Genesee is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
Compare Genesee with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Genesee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Genesee 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.
Genesee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Genesee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Genesee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Genesee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Genesee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Genesee 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.