Best PlacesNathan, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nathan, 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.
Nathan ranks 46,395th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nathan
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.
Nathan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nathan ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
Where Nathan ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Household income$41,741 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nathan
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nathan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $41,741, 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 Nathan's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nathan
Nathan 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 Nathan.
Who works in Nathan, and how
Work in Nathan centers on manufacturing and retail trade. 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 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Nathan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nathan.
What the weather is like in Nathan, month by month
Nathan sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 11° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Nathan
The nearest airport, Ford, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nathan
Schools across Nathan average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Central Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Pembine ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- North Central Area Senior High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Pembine HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nathan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nathan 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 Nathan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nathan
Is Nathan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nathan ranks 46,395th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on car insurance costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nathan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,159. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $41,741 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Nathan safe?
Yes, Nathan is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Nathan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nathan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nathan 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.
Nathan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nathan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nathan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nathan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nathan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nathan 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.