Best PlacesParchment, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parchment, 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.
Parchment ranks 17,477th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Parchment
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.
Parchment's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parchment ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
Where Parchment ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parchment
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parchment home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,208, 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 Parchment's effective rate of 1.71%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Parchment
Parchment 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 Parchment.
Who works in Parchment, and how
Work in Parchment 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 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Parchment
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Parchment.
What the weather is like in Parchment, month by month
Parchment sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Parchment
The nearest airport, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parchment
Schools across Parchment average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Parchment Central Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Parchment Northwood Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hillside Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Parchment Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Kalamazoo Central High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Parchment High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parchment school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parchment 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 Parchment against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parchment
Is Parchment a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parchment ranks 17,477th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and biking, 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 Parchment expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,842. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $75,208 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Parchment safe?
Parchment is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $384 per resident a year.
Compare Parchment with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parchment. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parchment 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.
Parchment detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parchment: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parchment: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parchment: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parchment: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parchment 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.