Best PlacesKipling, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kipling, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kipling ranks 25,462nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kipling
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.
Kipling's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kipling ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
Where Kipling ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Household income$59,009 median, better than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kipling
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kipling home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,009, 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 Kipling's effective rate of 1.09%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Kipling
Kipling's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Kipling.
Who works in Kipling, and how
Work in Kipling centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Kipling
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kipling.
What the weather is like in Kipling, month by month
Kipling sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Kipling
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 208 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kipling
Schools across Kipling average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- James T Jones Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gladstone Area Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Gladstone Area High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kipling school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kipling 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 Kipling against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kipling
Is Kipling a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kipling ranks 25,462nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 Kipling expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,571. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $59,009 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Kipling safe?
Yes, Kipling is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Kipling with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kipling. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kipling 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.
Kipling detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kipling: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kipling: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kipling: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kipling: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kipling 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.