Best PlacesGrand Rapids, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around 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.
Grand Rapids ranks 8,793rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
Grand Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where Grand Rapids ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
Where Grand Rapids ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,084 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Rapids
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,824, 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 Rapids' effective rate of 1.26%, 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 Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grand Rapids.
Who works in Grand Rapids, and how
Work in Grand Rapids centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Grand Rapids
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grand Rapids.
What the weather is like in Grand Rapids, month by month
Grand Rapids sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Grand Rapids
The nearest airport, Eugene F Kranz Toledo Express, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grand Rapids
Schools across Grand Rapids average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Whitehouse Primary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Napoleon Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Otsego Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fallen Timbers Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Otsego Junior HighA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Anthony Wayne High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Napoleon Junior/senior High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Otsego High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Grand Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grand Rapids
Is Grand Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Rapids ranks 8,793rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and walkability, and lowest on the weather 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 Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,262. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $81,824 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Grand Rapids safe?
Yes, Grand Rapids is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Grand Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Grand Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.