Best PlacesMetropolitan, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Metropolitan, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Metropolitan ranks 21,123rd 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 Metropolitan
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.
Metropolitan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Metropolitan ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Metropolitan ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Metropolitan
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Metropolitan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,602, 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 Metropolitan's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Metropolitan
Metropolitan 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 Metropolitan.
Who works in Metropolitan, and how
Work in Metropolitan centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Metropolitan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Metropolitan.
What the weather is like in Metropolitan, month by month
Metropolitan sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Metropolitan
The nearest airport, Ford, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 211 miles away.
The best schools in and around Metropolitan
Schools across Metropolitan average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- North Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kingsford Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingsford High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Norway High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Iron Mountain High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Metropolitan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Metropolitan 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 Metropolitan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Metropolitan
Is Metropolitan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Metropolitan ranks 21,123rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and the weather, and lowest on car insurance costs 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 Metropolitan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,453. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $87,602 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Metropolitan safe?
Yes, Metropolitan is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
Compare Metropolitan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Metropolitan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Metropolitan 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.
Metropolitan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Metropolitan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Metropolitan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Metropolitan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Metropolitan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Metropolitan 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.