Best PlacesKalkaska, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalkaska, 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.
Kalkaska ranks 29,804th 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 Kalkaska
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.
Kalkaska's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalkaska ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Kalkaska ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kalkaska
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalkaska home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,333, 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 Kalkaska's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Kalkaska
Kalkaska 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 Kalkaska.
Who works in Kalkaska, and how
Work in Kalkaska centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kalkaska
Kalkaska has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kalkaska and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kalkaska, month by month
Kalkaska sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 19° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Kalkaska
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 185 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalkaska
Schools across Kalkaska average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mcbain Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Grayling Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Lake City Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mackinaw Trail Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Grayling Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Mancelona Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Grayling High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Kalkaska High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lake City High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kalkaska school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalkaska 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 Kalkaska against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kalkaska
Is Kalkaska a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalkaska ranks 29,804th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kalkaska expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,664. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $66,333 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Kalkaska safe?
Yes, Kalkaska is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Kalkaska with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalkaska. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalkaska 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.
Kalkaska detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalkaska: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalkaska: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalkaska: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalkaska: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalkaska 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.