Best PlacesParnell, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parnell, 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.
Parnell ranks 3,125th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Parnell
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.
Parnell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parnell ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$123,755 median, better than 94% of towns
Where Parnell ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parnell
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parnell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $123,755, 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 Parnell's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Parnell
Parnell runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Parnell.
Who works in Parnell, and how
Work in Parnell centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Parnell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Parnell.
What the weather is like in Parnell, month by month
Parnell sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Parnell
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parnell
Schools across Parnell average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Murray Lake ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Cannonsburg Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Rockford Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Lowell Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Belding Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Lowell Senior High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Belding High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parnell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parnell 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 Parnell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parnell
Is Parnell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parnell ranks 3,125th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low crime, and health care access, and lowest on car insurance costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parnell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,114. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $123,755 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Parnell safe?
Yes, Parnell is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Parnell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parnell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parnell 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.
Parnell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parnell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parnell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parnell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parnell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parnell 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.