Best PlacesKeweenaw County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Keweenaw 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.
Keweenaw County ranks 2,099th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Keweenaw 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.
Keweenaw County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Keweenaw County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
Where Keweenaw County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Keweenaw County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Keweenaw County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,451, 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 Keweenaw County's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Keweenaw County
Keweenaw County 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 Keweenaw County.
Who works in Keweenaw County, and how
Work in Keweenaw County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Keweenaw County
Keweenaw County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Keweenaw County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Keweenaw County growing, and who is moving in?
Keweenaw County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Houghton County, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Keweenaw County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Keweenaw County, month by month
Keweenaw County sees roughly 104 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 Keweenaw County
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 291 miles away.
The best schools in and around Keweenaw County
Schools across Keweenaw County average a B−, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clk Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Calumet High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Keweenaw County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Keweenaw 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 Keweenaw County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Keweenaw County
Is Keweenaw County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Keweenaw County ranks 2,099th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and clean air, 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 Keweenaw County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,845. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $54,451 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Keweenaw County safe?
Keweenaw County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $533 per resident a year.
Compare Keweenaw County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Keweenaw County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Keweenaw 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.
Keweenaw County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Keweenaw County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Keweenaw County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Keweenaw County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Keweenaw County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Keweenaw 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.