Best PlacesKent County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kent County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kent County ranks 472nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $92,206, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, a weak job market, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Kent 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 Kent County
The parts of Kent 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.
Forest Hills & Lowell
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Rockford & Cedar Springs
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Caledonia & Alto
Schools score higher, though streets are more car-dependent.
Northview
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Wyoming, Grandville & Byron Center
Tree cover is thinner.
Kentwood & Cutlerville
Grand Rapids
Transit reaches more jobs, though it is noisier.
Comstock Park, Sparta & Kent City
Homes cost less.
Walker
Health care is harder to reach and more homes sit empty.
Kent County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kent County's strengths and weaknesses
Kent County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking, few empty homes, and transit carry most of that.
The one real hole is car insurance costs, near the bottom of the country. A weak job market and air quality also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kent County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 95% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Kent County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kent County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kent County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,206, 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 Kent County's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kent County
Kent County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kent County.
Who works in Kent County, and how
Work in Kent County centers on manufacturing 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 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kent County
Kent County has more parkland per resident than 82% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kent County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kent County growing, and who is moving in?
Kent County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Grand Rapids, MI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kent County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kent County, month by month
Kent County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Kent County
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kent County
Schools across Kent County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brown Elementary SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Countryside Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Ada Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blandford SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- East Grand Rapids Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- City MiddlehighA− · 62% proficient
- Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Jenison International AcademyB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kent County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kent 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 Kent County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kent County suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kent County
Is Kent County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kent County ranks 472nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, few empty homes, and transit, 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 Kent County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,328. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $92,206 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Kent County safe?
Yes, Kent County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kent County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kent County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Forest Hills & Lowell, Rockford & Cedar Springs, and Caledonia & Alto. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kent County good for families?
Schools beat 42% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $776 a month.
Is Kent County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 86% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kent County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kent County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kent 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.
Kent County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kent County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kent County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kent County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kent County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kent 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.