Best PlacesMichael, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Michael, 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.
Michael ranks 38,647th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Michael
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.
Michael's strengths and weaknesses
Where Michael ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
Where Michael ranks low
- Short commute54.9 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Michael
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Michael home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,457, 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 Michael's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Michael
Michael runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Michael.
Who works in Michael, and how
Work in Michael centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Michael
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Michael.
What the weather is like in Michael, month by month
Michael sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Michael
St Louis Lambert International sits about 35 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Michael
Schools across Michael average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carrollton Grade SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Calhoun Elementary/ Jr High SchC− · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Calhoun High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Carrollton High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Michael school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Michael 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 Michael against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Michael
Is Michael a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Michael ranks 38,647th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Michael expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,603. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $83,457 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Michael safe?
Michael is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
Compare Michael with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Michael. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Michael 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.
Michael detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Michael: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Michael: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Michael: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Michael: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Michael 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.