Best PlacesGrand Ledge, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grand Ledge, 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.
Grand Ledge ranks 7,652nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grand Ledge
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.
Grand Ledge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grand Ledge ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
Where Grand Ledge ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Ledge
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Ledge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,386, 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 Grand Ledge's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grand Ledge
Grand Ledge 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 Grand Ledge.
Who works in Grand Ledge, and how
Work in Grand Ledge centers on education and manufacturing. 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 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Grand Ledge
Grand Ledge has more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Grand Ledge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grand Ledge, month by month
Grand Ledge sees roughly 69 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 Grand Ledge
The nearest airport, Capital Region International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grand Ledge
Schools across Grand Ledge average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Strange SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Parkview Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Willow Ridge Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kenneth T Beagle Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Portland Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Charlotte Upper Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Portland High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Grand Ledge High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Charlotte Senior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Ledge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grand Ledge 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 Grand Ledge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grand Ledge
Is Grand Ledge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Ledge ranks 7,652nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and few empty homes, 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 Grand Ledge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,720. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $91,386 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Grand Ledge safe?
Yes, Grand Ledge is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.
Compare Grand Ledge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Ledge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grand Ledge 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.
Grand Ledge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Ledge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Ledge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Ledge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Ledge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grand Ledge 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.