Best PlacesHerron, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Herron, 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.
Herron ranks 28,297th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Herron
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.
Herron's strengths and weaknesses
Where Herron ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$562 a month, better than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 76% of towns
Where Herron ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Herron
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Herron home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,421, 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 Herron's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Herron
Herron 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 Herron.
Who works in Herron, and how
Work in Herron centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Herron
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Herron.
What the weather is like in Herron, month by month
Herron sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 70° | 56° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Herron
The nearest airport, Alpena County Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Herron
Schools across Herron average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wilson ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thunder Bay Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Alpena High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Herron school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Herron 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 Herron against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Herron
Is Herron a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Herron ranks 28,297th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low crime, and quiet, and lowest on car insurance costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Herron expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,890. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $65,421 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Herron safe?
Yes, Herron is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Herron with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Herron. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Herron 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.
Herron detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Herron: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Herron: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Herron: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Herron: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Herron 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.