Best PlacesIsabella County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Isabella 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.
Isabella County ranks 1,928th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Isabella 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 Isabella County
The parts of Isabella 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.
Mount Pleasant
Biking is better, streets are more walkable, and more adults hold degrees.
Weidman
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Shepherd
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Scores across Isabella County run from about the 6th to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Isabella County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Isabella County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of counties
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 81% of counties
- TransitBetter than 80% of counties
- BikingBetter than 76% of counties
Where Isabella County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Isabella County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Isabella County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,537, 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 Isabella County's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Isabella County
Isabella County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Isabella County.
Who works in Isabella County, and how
Work in Isabella 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 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Isabella County
Isabella County has more parkland per resident than 89% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Isabella County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Isabella County growing, and who is moving in?
Isabella County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Isabella County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Isabella County, month by month
Isabella County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Isabella County
The nearest airport, MBS International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Isabella County
Schools across Isabella County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Winn Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Fancher SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Beal City Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clare Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Mt Pleasant Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Shepherd Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Clare High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Mt Pleasant Senior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Beal City High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Isabella County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Isabella 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 Isabella County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Isabella County suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Common questions about living in Isabella County
Is Isabella County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Isabella County ranks 1,928th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, an educated workforce, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Isabella County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,743. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $59,537 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Isabella County safe?
Yes, Isabella County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Isabella County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 20. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Isabella County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mount Pleasant, Weidman, and Shepherd. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Isabella County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Isabella County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Isabella 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.
Isabella County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Isabella County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Isabella County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Isabella County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Isabella County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Isabella 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.