Best PlacesMontmorency County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Montmorency County, 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.
Montmorency County ranks 2,694th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montmorency 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.
Montmorency County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montmorency County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
Where Montmorency County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$50,727 median, better than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Montmorency County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montmorency County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,727, 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 Montmorency County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Montmorency County
Montmorency County 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 Montmorency County.
Who works in Montmorency County, and how
Work in Montmorency County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Montmorency County
Montmorency County has more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Montmorency County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Montmorency County growing, and who is moving in?
Montmorency County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Montmorency County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Montmorency County, month by month
Montmorency County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 70° | 56° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Montmorency County
The nearest airport, Alpena County Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montmorency County
Schools across Montmorency County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Johannesburglewiston Elementarymiddle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Onaway Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Lewiston Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Onaway Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Johannesburglewiston High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Posen Consolidated High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Hillman Community Jrsr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montmorency County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montmorency 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 Montmorency County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Montmorency County
Is Montmorency County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montmorency County ranks 2,694th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, low disaster risk, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montmorency County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,905. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $50,727 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Montmorency County safe?
Yes, Montmorency County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $335 per resident a year.
Compare Montmorency County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montmorency County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montmorency 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.
Montmorency County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montmorency County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montmorency County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montmorency County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montmorency County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montmorency 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.