Best PlacesManistee County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Manistee County, 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.
Manistee County ranks 1,833rd of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Manistee County
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.
Manistee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manistee County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of counties
- QuietBetter than 87% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of counties
Where Manistee County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Manistee County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manistee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,958, 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 Manistee County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Manistee County
Manistee County 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 Manistee County.
Who works in Manistee County, and how
Work in Manistee County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Manistee County
Manistee County has more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Manistee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Manistee County growing, and who is moving in?
Manistee County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Traverse City, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Manistee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Manistee County, month by month
Manistee County sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Manistee County
The nearest airport, Manistee County/Blacker, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Manistee County
Schools across Manistee County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Forest View Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Floyd M Jewett Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Betsie Valley SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benzie Central Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Brethren Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Benzie Central Sr High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Manistee Middle High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Casman Alternative AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manistee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manistee County 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 Manistee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Manistee County suits
Families
Schools land around the 24th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Common questions about living in Manistee County
Is Manistee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manistee County ranks 1,833rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and quiet, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Manistee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,617. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $65,958 median income, cost of living beats 41% of counties.
Is Manistee County safe?
Yes, Manistee County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manistee County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 19. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
Is Manistee County good for families?
Schools beat 24% of counties, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $817 a month.
Compare Manistee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manistee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manistee County 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.
Manistee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manistee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manistee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manistee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manistee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manistee County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.