Best PlacesMarquette, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marquette, 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.
Marquette ranks 1,432nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marquette
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.
Marquette's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marquette ranks high
- Short commute13.8 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- QuietBetter than 96% of cities
- Cheap childcare$695 a month, better than 90% of cities
Where Marquette ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Marquette
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marquette home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,901, 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 Marquette's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Marquette
Marquette runs younger 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 Marquette.
Who works in Marquette, and how
Work in Marquette centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Marquette
Marquette has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Marquette and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Marquette, month by month
Marquette sees roughly 84 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
The nearest airport, Marquette/Sawyer Regional, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 249 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marquette
Schools across Marquette average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Graveraet Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Sandy Knoll SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Superior Hills Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bothwell Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Marquette Senior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Vandenboom Alternative High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marquette school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marquette 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Marquette suits
Common questions about living in Marquette
Is Marquette a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marquette ranks 1,432nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marquette expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,501. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $64,901 median income, cost of living beats 18% of cities.
Is Marquette safe?
Marquette is safer than 26% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marquette?
July highs average about 77 degrees, and January highs near 24 with lows near 12. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of cities.
Is Marquette good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $695 a month.
Compare Marquette with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marquette. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marquette 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marquette: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marquette: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marquette: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marquette: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marquette 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.