Best PlacesMackinaw City, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mackinaw City, 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.
Mackinaw City ranks 38,414th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mackinaw City
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.
Mackinaw City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mackinaw City ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
Where Mackinaw City ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mackinaw City
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mackinaw City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,303, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Mackinaw City's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mackinaw City
Mackinaw City 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 Mackinaw City.
Who works in Mackinaw City, and how
Work in Mackinaw City centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Mackinaw City
Mackinaw City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mackinaw City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mackinaw City, month by month
Mackinaw City sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 47° | 37° | 30° |
| July | 76° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 57° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Mackinaw City
The nearest airport, Pellston Regional/Emmet County, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 250 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mackinaw City
Schools across Mackinaw City average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- St Ignace Elementarymiddle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Lasalle High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mackinaw City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mackinaw City 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 Mackinaw City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mackinaw City
Is Mackinaw City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mackinaw City ranks 38,414th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, biking, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mackinaw City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,047. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $54,303 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Mackinaw City safe?
Mackinaw City is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $772 per resident a year.
Compare Mackinaw City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mackinaw City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mackinaw City 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.
Mackinaw City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mackinaw City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mackinaw City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mackinaw City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mackinaw City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mackinaw City 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.