Best PlacesHoughton County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Houghton County, 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.
Houghton County ranks 1,176th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Houghton 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.
Houghton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Houghton County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Short commute15.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
Where Houghton County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Houghton County
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Houghton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,367, 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 Houghton County'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 Houghton County
Houghton County runs younger 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 Houghton County.
Who works in Houghton County, and how
Work in Houghton County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Houghton County
Houghton County has more parkland per resident than 83% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Houghton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Houghton County growing, and who is moving in?
Houghton County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Houghton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Houghton County, month by month
Houghton County 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 Houghton County
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 273 miles away.
The best schools in and around Houghton County
Schools across Houghton County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arvon Township SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Houghton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Barkell Elementary SchoolA− · 57% 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 Houghton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Houghton 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 Houghton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Houghton County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 69% of counties, health care access beats 71%, and it is quieter than 81%.
Common questions about living in Houghton County
Is Houghton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Houghton County ranks 1,176th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on car insurance costs and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Houghton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $188,645. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $61,367 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Houghton County safe?
Houghton County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $475 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Houghton County?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
Is Houghton County good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $711 a month.
Compare Houghton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Houghton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Houghton 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.
Houghton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Houghton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Houghton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Houghton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Houghton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Houghton 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.