Best PlacesOceana County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oceana County, 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.
Oceana County ranks 1,999th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oceana County
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.
Oceana County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oceana County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 80% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of counties
Where Oceana County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 13% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oceana County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oceana County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,425, 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 Oceana County's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Oceana County
Oceana County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oceana County.
Who works in Oceana County, and how
Work in Oceana County 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 Oceana County
Oceana County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oceana County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Oceana County growing, and who is moving in?
Oceana County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Muskegon, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Oceana County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oceana County, month by month
Oceana County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 26° | 21° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Oceana County
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oceana County
Schools across Oceana County average a D+, better than 13% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Daisy Brook Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Mason County Central Upper ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- New Era Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nellie B Chisholm Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Mason County Central MsD+ · 25% proficient
- Hart Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Ludington High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Montague High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Fremont High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oceana County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oceana County 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 Oceana County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Oceana County suits
Families
Schools land around the 13th percentile and crime safety beats 89%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oceana County
Is Oceana County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oceana County ranks 1,999th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and low crime, 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 Oceana County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,156. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,425 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Oceana County safe?
Yes, Oceana County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oceana County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 21. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of counties.
Is Oceana County good for families?
Schools beat 13% of counties, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $710 a month.
Compare Oceana County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oceana County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oceana County 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.
Oceana County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oceana County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oceana County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oceana County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oceana County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oceana County 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.