Best PlacesNorth Muskegon, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Muskegon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
North Muskegon ranks 5,290th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Muskegon
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 Muskegon's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Muskegon ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where North Muskegon ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Muskegon
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Muskegon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,945, 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 Muskegon's effective rate of 1.54%, 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 Muskegon
North Muskegon runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Muskegon.
Who works in North Muskegon, and how
Work in North Muskegon centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North Muskegon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Muskegon.
What the weather is like in North Muskegon, month by month
North Muskegon sees roughly 73 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 North Muskegon
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Muskegon
Schools across North Muskegon average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Muskegon Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Reethspuffer Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Bunker ElementaryF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Muskegon Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Reethspuffer Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Muskegon Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- North Muskegon High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Reethspuffer High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Muskegon High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Muskegon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North 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 North Muskegon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Muskegon
Is North Muskegon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Muskegon ranks 5,290th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, health care access, and fast internet, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Muskegon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,491. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $96,945 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is North Muskegon safe?
North Muskegon is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $449 per resident a year.
Compare North Muskegon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Muskegon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North 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.
North Muskegon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Muskegon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Muskegon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Muskegon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Muskegon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North 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.
- 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.