Best PlacesMichigan, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Michigan, 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.
Michigan ranks 14,885th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Michigan
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.
Michigan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Michigan ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
Where Michigan ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Michigan
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Michigan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,749, 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 Michigan's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Michigan
Michigan 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 Michigan.
Who works in Michigan, and how
Work in Michigan centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Michigan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Michigan.
What the weather is like in Michigan, month by month
Michigan sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 19, with lows near 3. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19° | 11° | 3° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 44° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Michigan
The nearest airport, Devils Lake Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 317 miles away.
The best schools in and around Michigan
Schools across Michigan average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakota Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Dakota Prairie Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Fordville-lankin Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakota High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Dakota Prairie High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Michigan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Michigan 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 Michigan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Michigan
Is Michigan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Michigan ranks 14,885th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, a stable housing market, and fast internet, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Michigan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,954. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,749 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Michigan safe?
Yes, Michigan is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Michigan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Michigan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Michigan 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.
Michigan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Michigan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Michigan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Michigan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Michigan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Michigan 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.