Best PlacesLake George, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake George, 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.
Lake George ranks 46,333rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Car insurance costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Lake George
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 George's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake George ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- QuietBetter than 80% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Cheap childcare$658 a month, better than 72% of towns
Where Lake George ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$47,904 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake George
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake George home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,904, 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 George's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 6 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 George
Lake George 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 Lake George.
Who works in Lake George, and how
Work in Lake George centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake George
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake George.
What the weather is like in Lake George, month by month
Lake George sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Lake George
The nearest airport, MBS International, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 144 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake George
Schools across Lake George average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Marion Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Farwell Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farwell Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Harrison Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Farwell High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Harrison Community High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake George school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake George 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 George against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake George
Is Lake George a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake George ranks 46,333rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low disaster risk, and quiet, 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 Lake George expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,092. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $47,904 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Lake George safe?
Lake George is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $506 per resident a year.
Compare Lake George with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake George. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake George 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 George detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake George: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake George: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake George: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake George: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake George 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.