Best PlacesMissaukee County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Missaukee County, 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.
Missaukee County ranks 1,821st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Missaukee County
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.
Missaukee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Missaukee County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of counties
Where Missaukee County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Missaukee County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Missaukee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,602, 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 Missaukee County'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 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 Missaukee County
Missaukee County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Missaukee County.
Who works in Missaukee County, and how
Work in Missaukee County 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 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Missaukee County
Missaukee County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 79% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Missaukee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Missaukee County growing, and who is moving in?
Missaukee County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wexford County, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Missaukee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Missaukee County, month by month
Missaukee County sees roughly 83 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 Missaukee County
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Missaukee County
Schools across Missaukee County average a C, better than 30% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Manton Consolidated Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Mcbain Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Lake City Elementary SchoolC · 35% 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 Missaukee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Missaukee County 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 Missaukee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Missaukee County
Is Missaukee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Missaukee County ranks 1,821st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, quiet, and low disaster risk, and lowest on car insurance costs and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Missaukee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,668. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $63,602 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Missaukee County safe?
Yes, Missaukee County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.
Compare Missaukee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Missaukee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Missaukee County 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.
Missaukee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Missaukee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Missaukee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Missaukee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Missaukee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Missaukee County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.