Best PlacesGreater Galesburg, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Greater Galesburg, 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.
Greater Galesburg ranks 21,632nd 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 Greater Galesburg
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.
Greater Galesburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Greater Galesburg ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of towns
Where Greater Galesburg ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Greater Galesburg
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Greater Galesburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,689, 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 Greater Galesburg's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 Greater Galesburg
Greater Galesburg 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 Greater Galesburg.
Who works in Greater Galesburg, and how
Work in Greater Galesburg centers on manufacturing and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Greater Galesburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Greater Galesburg.
What the weather is like in Greater Galesburg, month by month
Greater Galesburg sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Greater Galesburg
The nearest airport, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Greater Galesburg
Schools across Greater Galesburg average a C−, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stem AcademyB · 50% proficient
- Galesburgaugusta Primary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Galesburgaugusta Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Comstock Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Galesburgaugusta High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Comstock High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Greater Galesburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Greater Galesburg 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 Greater Galesburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Greater Galesburg
Is Greater Galesburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Greater Galesburg ranks 21,632nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and transit, and lowest on car insurance costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Greater Galesburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,565. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $71,689 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Greater Galesburg safe?
Yes, Greater Galesburg is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare Greater Galesburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Greater Galesburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Greater Galesburg 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.
Greater Galesburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Greater Galesburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Greater Galesburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Greater Galesburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Greater Galesburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Greater Galesburg 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.