Best PlacesSix Lakes, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Six Lakes, 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.
Six Lakes ranks 34,930th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Car insurance costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low crime.
The best neighborhoods in Six Lakes
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.
Six Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Six Lakes ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- QuietBetter than 80% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap childcare$627 a month, better than 76% of towns
Where Six Lakes ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Six Lakes
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Six Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,941, 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 Six Lakes' effective rate of 1.07%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Six Lakes
Six Lakes runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Six Lakes.
Who works in Six Lakes, and how
Work in Six Lakes centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Six Lakes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Six Lakes.
What the weather is like in Six Lakes, month by month
Six Lakes sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 20° |
| April | 57° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Six Lakes
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Six Lakes
Schools across Six Lakes average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Mecosta Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Montabella ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chippewa Hills Intermediate SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Chippewa Hills High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lakeview High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Montabella Juniorsenior HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Six Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Six Lakes 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 Six Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Six Lakes
Is Six Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Six Lakes ranks 34,930th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and quiet, 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 Six Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,814. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,941 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Six Lakes safe?
Yes, Six Lakes is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare Six Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Six Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Six Lakes 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.
Six Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Six Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Six Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Six Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Six Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Six Lakes 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.