Best PlacesLake Linden, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Linden, 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 Linden ranks 28,889th 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 Lake Linden
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 Linden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Linden ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute20.6 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Lake Linden ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Linden
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Linden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,614, 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 Linden's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Linden
Lake Linden 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 Linden.
Who works in Lake Linden, and how
Work in Lake Linden centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lake Linden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Linden.
What the weather is like in Lake Linden, month by month
Lake Linden sees roughly 112 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 Lake Linden
The nearest airport, Houghton County Memorial, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 281 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Linden
Schools across Lake Linden average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Houghton Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Clk Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- South Range Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Houghton Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Washington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Houghton Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Calumet High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Linden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Linden 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 Linden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Linden
Is Lake Linden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Linden ranks 28,889th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and civic engagement, 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 Lake Linden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,847. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $60,614 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Lake Linden safe?
Lake Linden is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $508 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Linden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Linden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Linden 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 Linden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Linden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Linden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Linden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Linden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Linden 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.