Best PlacesHillsdale County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hillsdale County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hillsdale County ranks 1,967th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hillsdale County
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.
The best areas in Hillsdale County
The parts of Hillsdale County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Jerome
Local pay stretches further, more residents vote, and incomes run higher.
Hillsdale
Commutes are shorter, though fewer households have young kids.
Jonesville
Crime runs higher.
Litchfield
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Hillsdale County run from about the 9th to the 72nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hillsdale County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hillsdale County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 91% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Cheap childcare$565 a month, better than 79% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of counties
Where Hillsdale County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hillsdale County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hillsdale County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,422, 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 Hillsdale County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Hillsdale County
Hillsdale County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hillsdale County.
Who works in Hillsdale County, and how
Work in Hillsdale County 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 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Hillsdale County
Hillsdale County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hillsdale County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hillsdale County growing, and who is moving in?
Hillsdale County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hillsdale County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hillsdale County, month by month
Hillsdale County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Hillsdale County
The nearest airport, Eugene F Kranz Toledo Express, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hillsdale County
Schools across Hillsdale County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Central Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Fayette Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Fremont Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jonesville Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Hanoverhorton Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Davis Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- North Central Junior/high SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Hanoverhorton High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Columbia Central High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hillsdale County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hillsdale County 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 Hillsdale County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hillsdale County suits
Families
Schools land around the 14th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Common questions about living in Hillsdale County
Is Hillsdale County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hillsdale County ranks 1,967th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, heat safety, and affordable childcare, 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 Hillsdale County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,667. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,422 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Hillsdale County safe?
Yes, Hillsdale County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $331 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hillsdale County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 19. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hillsdale County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Jerome, Hillsdale, and Jonesville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hillsdale County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hillsdale County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hillsdale County 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.
Hillsdale County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hillsdale County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hillsdale County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hillsdale County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hillsdale County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hillsdale County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.