Best PlacesHancock, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hancock, 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.
Hancock ranks 11,039th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hancock
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.
Hancock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hancock ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute12.3 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
Where Hancock ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hancock
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hancock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,188, 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 Hancock'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 Hancock
Hancock runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Hancock.
Who works in Hancock, and how
Work in Hancock centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Hancock
Hancock has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hancock and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hancock, month by month
Hancock sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 20° | 13° |
| April | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Hancock
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 272 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hancock
Schools across Hancock average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Houghton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Barkell Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Eb Holman Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Houghton Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Washington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Houghton Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Calumet High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Hancock Middlehigh SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hancock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hancock 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 Hancock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hancock
Is Hancock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hancock ranks 11,039th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 Hancock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,141. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $64,188 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Hancock safe?
Hancock is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
Compare Hancock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hancock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hancock 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.
Hancock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hancock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hancock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hancock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hancock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hancock 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.