Best PlacesOttawa County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ottawa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ottawa County ranks 182nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $94,185, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, state infrastructure, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Ottawa 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.
The best areas in Ottawa County
The parts of Ottawa County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
West Olive
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Hudsonville, Jenison & Allendale
More households have young kids and schools score higher.
Grand Haven & Spring Lake
More adults hold degrees, though more homes sit empty.
Nunica
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Holland & Zeeland
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Coopersville, Grand Rapids & Marne
Scores close to Holland & Zeeland, except that commutes are longer here.
Scores across Ottawa County run from about the 18th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ottawa County's strengths and weaknesses
Ottawa County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Civic engagement and heat safety follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Car insurance costs, state infrastructure, and state finances hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Ottawa County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Ottawa County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ottawa County
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ottawa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,185, 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 Ottawa County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Ottawa County
Ottawa County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ottawa County.
Who works in Ottawa County, and how
Work in Ottawa County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ottawa County
Ottawa County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ottawa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ottawa County growing, and who is moving in?
Ottawa County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Grand Rapids, MI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ottawa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ottawa County, month by month
Ottawa County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Ottawa County
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ottawa County
Schools across Ottawa County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Holmes Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Rosy Mound SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Jeffers Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blandford SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Spring Lake Intermediate SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Spring Lake Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Jenison International AcademyB+ · 58% proficient
- Spring Lake High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Black River Public School MiddlehighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ottawa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ottawa 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 Ottawa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ottawa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ottawa County
Is Ottawa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ottawa County ranks 182nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on car insurance costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ottawa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,086. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $94,185 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Ottawa County safe?
Yes, Ottawa County is safer than 100% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $172 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ottawa County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 21. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ottawa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are West Olive, Hudsonville, Jenison & Allendale, and Grand Haven & Spring Lake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ottawa County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 100%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Is Ottawa County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ottawa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ottawa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ottawa 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.
Ottawa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ottawa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ottawa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ottawa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ottawa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ottawa 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.