Best PlacesMuskegon, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Muskegon metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by bigmikesndtech, CC BY 2.0, via commons
Muskegon ranks 356th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on a weak job market and car insurance costs. It does better on low disaster risk, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Muskegon metro
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.
The best areas in Muskegon
The towns and districts of the Muskegon metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Whitehall & Montague
Crime runs lower, tree cover is thicker, and local pay stretches further.
Norton Shores & Roosevelt Park
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Twin Lake & Holton
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Fruitport & Ravenna
Prices have run up less, though streets are more car-dependent.
North Muskegon
More adults hold degrees and health care is easier to reach.
Muskegon Heights
Incomes run lower and health outcomes score lower.
Downtown Muskegon
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Scores across Muskegon run from about the 2nd to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Muskegon's strengths and weaknesses
Muskegon ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low disaster risk, quiet, and affordable childcare carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: a weak job market, car insurance costs, and cell coverage all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Muskegon ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 94% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$601 a month, better than 93% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of metro areas
Where Muskegon ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- School gradeC−, better than only 8% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Muskegon
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Muskegon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,110, 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 Muskegon's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 Muskegon
Muskegon's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Muskegon.
Who works in Muskegon, and how
Work in Muskegon 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Muskegon
Muskegon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Muskegon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Muskegon growing, and who is moving in?
Muskegon has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grand Rapids, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Muskegon go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Muskegon, month by month
Muskegon sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Muskegon
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Muskegon
Schools across Muskegon average a C−, better than 8% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Beach Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Whitehall Ealy Elem SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- North Muskegon Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Muskegon Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Whitehall Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Reethspuffer Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- North Muskegon High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Mona Shores High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Whitehall Senior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Muskegon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Muskegon 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 Muskegon against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Muskegon suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Muskegon
Is Muskegon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Muskegon ranks 356th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, and affordable childcare, 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 Muskegon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,450. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,110 median income, cost of living beats 28% of metro areas.
Is Muskegon safe?
Muskegon is safer than 6% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $592 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Muskegon?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 22. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Muskegon?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Whitehall & Montague, Norton Shores & Roosevelt Park, and Twin Lake & Holton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Muskegon good for families?
Schools beat 8% of metro areas, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $601 a month.
Is Muskegon good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 28% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of metro areas. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Muskegon with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Muskegon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Muskegon 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.
Muskegon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Muskegon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Muskegon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Muskegon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Muskegon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Muskegon 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.