Best PlacesSitka, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sitka, 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.
Sitka ranks 15,644th 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 Sitka
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.
Sitka's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sitka ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of towns
Where Sitka ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
- School gradeC, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sitka
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sitka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,209, 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 Sitka's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Sitka
Sitka's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sitka.
Who works in Sitka, and how
Work in Sitka centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sitka
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sitka.
What the weather is like in Sitka, month by month
Sitka sees roughly 78 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 Sitka
The nearest airport, Muskegon County, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sitka
Schools across Sitka average a C, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Daisy Brook Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Newaygo Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fremont Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Newaygo Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- David C Outwin Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Newaygo High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Fremont High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sitka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sitka 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 Sitka against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sitka
Is Sitka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sitka ranks 15,644th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sitka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,773. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $85,209 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Sitka safe?
Yes, Sitka is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $188 per resident a year.
Compare Sitka with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sitka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sitka 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.
Sitka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sitka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sitka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sitka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sitka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sitka 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.