Best PlacesMcBain, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McBain, 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.
McBain ranks 19,676th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McBain
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.
McBain's strengths and weaknesses
Where McBain ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where McBain ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McBain
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McBain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,617, 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 McBain's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 McBain
McBain's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McBain.
Who works in McBain, and how
Work in McBain centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in McBain
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McBain.
What the weather is like in McBain, month by month
McBain sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 31° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of McBain
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around McBain
Schools across McBain average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Mcbain Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mackinaw Trail Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Mcbain Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Lake City Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcbain High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Cadillac Senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Lake City High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McBain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McBain 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 McBain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McBain
Is McBain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McBain ranks 19,676th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McBain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,622. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $71,617 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is McBain safe?
Yes, McBain is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare McBain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McBain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McBain 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.
McBain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McBain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McBain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McBain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McBain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McBain 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.