Best PlacesNorth Branch, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Branch, 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.
North Branch ranks 24,859th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Car insurance costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on few empty homes.
The best neighborhoods in North Branch
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.
North Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Branch ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where North Branch ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute37.7 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Branch
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,619, 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 North Branch's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 North Branch
North Branch runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Branch.
Who works in North Branch, and how
Work in North Branch centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in North Branch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Branch.
What the weather is like in North Branch, month by month
North Branch sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of North Branch
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Branch
Schools across North Branch average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Branch Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Elva Lynch Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Turrill Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ruth Fox Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Imlay City Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Rolland Warner Campus 67C · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Lapeer High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Imlay City High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- North Branch High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Branch 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 North Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Branch
Is North Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Branch ranks 24,859th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, quiet, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,414. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $76,619 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is North Branch safe?
Yes, North Branch is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare North Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Branch 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.
North Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Branch 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.