Best PlacesMacomb, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Macomb, 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.
Macomb ranks 672nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Macomb
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.
Macomb's strengths and weaknesses
Where Macomb ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- QuietBetter than 89% of cities
Where Macomb ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Macomb
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macomb home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,413, 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 Macomb's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Macomb
Macomb's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Macomb.
Who works in Macomb, and how
Work in Macomb 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 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Macomb
Macomb has more parkland per resident than 76% of cities and less late-night activity than most cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Macomb and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Macomb, month by month
Macomb sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Macomb
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 38 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 168 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Macomb
Schools across Macomb average a B−, better than 44% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Messmore Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Shawnee Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Floyd Ebeling Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Armada Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Bemis Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Shelby Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- International Academy Of MacombA · 78% proficient
- Eisenhower High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Dakota High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macomb school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macomb 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 Macomb against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Macomb suits
Families
Schools land around the 44th percentile and crime safety beats 90%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Macomb
Is Macomb a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macomb ranks 672nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, a stable housing market, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Macomb expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,891. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $125,413 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Macomb safe?
Yes, Macomb is safer than 90% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Macomb?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 20. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of cities.
Is Macomb good for families?
Schools beat 44% of cities, crime safety beats 90%, and childcare runs $860 a month.
Compare Macomb with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macomb. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macomb 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.
Macomb detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macomb: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macomb: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macomb: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macomb: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macomb 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.