Best PlacesLake Ann, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Ann, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Ann ranks 8,992nd 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 Lake Ann
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.
Lake Ann's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Ann ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
Where Lake Ann ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Ann
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Ann home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,029, 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 Lake Ann's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Lake Ann
Lake Ann's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Ann.
Who works in Lake Ann, and how
Work in Lake Ann centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lake Ann
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Ann.
What the weather is like in Lake Ann, month by month
Lake Ann sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Lake Ann
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Ann
Schools across Lake Ann average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Ann Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Westwoods Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Benzie Central Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- West Senior HighB · 46% proficient
- Benzie Central Sr High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Ann school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Ann 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 Lake Ann against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Ann
Is Lake Ann a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Ann ranks 8,992nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Ann expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $290,561. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $86,029 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Lake Ann safe?
Yes, Lake Ann is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Ann with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Ann. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Ann 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.
Lake Ann detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Ann: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Ann: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Ann: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Ann: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Ann 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.