Best PlacesMarquette County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marquette County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Marquette County ranks 1,436th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marquette 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.
The best areas in Marquette County
The parts of Marquette County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Marquette
Biking is better, streets are more walkable, and fewer homes sit empty.
Ishpeming & Negaunee
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Gwinn
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Marquette County run from about the 7th to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Marquette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marquette County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of counties
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
Where Marquette County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marquette County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marquette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,861, 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 Marquette County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Marquette County
Marquette County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Marquette County.
Who works in Marquette County, and how
Work in Marquette County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Marquette County
Marquette County has more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Marquette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marquette County growing, and who is moving in?
Marquette County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marquette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marquette County, month by month
Marquette County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 46° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 77° | 66° | 56° |
| October | 54° | 45° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Marquette County
The nearest airport, Marquette/Sawyer Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 245 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marquette County
Schools across Marquette County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arvon Township SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Lakeview SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Autrainonota Public SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bothwell Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Negaunee Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Ishpeming Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Calumet High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Marquette Senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Negaunee High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marquette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marquette 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 Marquette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Marquette County suits
Common questions about living in Marquette County
Is Marquette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marquette County ranks 1,436th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and low disaster risk, 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 Marquette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,652. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,861 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is Marquette County safe?
Marquette County is safer than 36% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marquette County?
July highs average about 77 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 12. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Marquette County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Marquette, Ishpeming & Negaunee, and Gwinn. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Marquette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marquette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marquette 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.
Marquette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marquette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marquette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marquette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marquette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marquette 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.