Best PlacesSchaffer, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Schaffer, 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.
Schaffer ranks 25,707th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Schaffer
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.
Schaffer's strengths and weaknesses
Where Schaffer ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- QuietBetter than 85% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 118 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of towns
Where Schaffer ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Schaffer
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Schaffer home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,193, 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 Schaffer'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 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 Schaffer
Schaffer runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Schaffer.
Who works in Schaffer, and how
Work in Schaffer 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 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Schaffer
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Schaffer.
What the weather is like in Schaffer, month by month
Schaffer sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Schaffer
The nearest airport, Delta County, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 197 miles away.
The best schools in and around Schaffer
Schools across Schaffer average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bark Riverharris Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Bark Riverharris Jrsr High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Schaffer school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Schaffer 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 Schaffer against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Schaffer
Is Schaffer a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Schaffer ranks 25,707th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Schaffer expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,016. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $74,193 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Schaffer safe?
Yes, Schaffer is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Schaffer with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Schaffer. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Schaffer 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.
Schaffer detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Schaffer: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Schaffer: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Schaffer: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Schaffer: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Schaffer 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.