Best PlacesSmiths Creek, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smiths Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Smiths Creek ranks 23,734th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Smiths Creek
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.
Smiths Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smiths Creek ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Smiths Creek ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smiths Creek
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smiths Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,451, 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 Smiths Creek's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Smiths Creek
Smiths Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Smiths Creek.
Who works in Smiths Creek, and how
Work in Smiths Creek centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Smiths Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smiths Creek.
What the weather is like in Smiths Creek, month by month
Smiths Creek sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 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° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Smiths Creek
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smiths Creek
Schools across Smiths Creek average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gardens Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- John F Farrellemmett Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Memphis Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yale Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Marysville Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Marysville High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Yale Senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Port Huron High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smiths Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smiths Creek 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 Smiths Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smiths Creek
Is Smiths Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smiths Creek ranks 23,734th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on car insurance costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smiths Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,136. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $77,451 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Smiths Creek safe?
Yes, Smiths Creek is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
Compare Smiths Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smiths Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smiths Creek 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.
Smiths Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smiths Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smiths Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smiths Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smiths Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smiths Creek 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.