Best PlacesNew Center, Detroit, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Center, Detroit, 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.
New Center, Detroit ranks 5,186th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in New Center, Detroit
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.
New Center, Detroit's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Center, Detroit ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$834 a month, better than 86% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
Where New Center, Detroit ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD−, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in New Center, Detroit
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Center, Detroit home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,256, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 New Center, Detroit's effective rate of 1.30%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Center, Detroit
New Center, Detroit runs younger 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 New Center, Detroit.
Who works in New Center, Detroit, and how
Work in New Center, Detroit centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in New Center, Detroit
New Center, Detroit has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of New Center, Detroit and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Center, Detroit, month by month
New Center, Detroit sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of New Center, Detroit
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 18 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 168 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around New Center, Detroit
Schools across New Center, Detroit average a D−, better than 5% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Golightly Education CenterD+ · 25% proficient
- Holbrook SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Thirkell Elementarymiddle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Hamtramck High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- University Preparatory Art Design MiddlehighD− · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Center, Detroit school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Center, Detroit 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 New Center, Detroit against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in New Center, Detroit
Is New Center, Detroit a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Center, Detroit ranks 5,186th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low disaster risk, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on crime and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Center, Detroit expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,486. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $56,256 median income, cost of living beats 38% of neighborhoods.
Is New Center, Detroit safe?
New Center, Detroit is safer than 1% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,705 per resident a year.
Compare New Center, Detroit with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Center, Detroit. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Center, Detroit 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.
New Center, Detroit detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Center, Detroit: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Center, Detroit: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Center, Detroit: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Center, Detroit: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Center, Detroit 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.