Best PlacesSouth Boardman, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Boardman, 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.
South Boardman ranks 33,767th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Car insurance costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in South Boardman
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.
South Boardman's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Boardman ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Cheap childcare$629 a month, better than 76% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where South Boardman ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Boardman
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Boardman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,408, 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 South Boardman's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 South Boardman
South Boardman runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Boardman.
Who works in South Boardman, and how
Work in South Boardman centers on health care & social and construction. 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in South Boardman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Boardman.
What the weather is like in South Boardman, month by month
South Boardman sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of South Boardman
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Boardman
Schools across South Boardman average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mill Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Courtade Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Birch Street Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cherryland Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- East Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Kalkaska Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Elk Rapids High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Kalkaska High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Boardman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Boardman 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 South Boardman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Boardman
Is South Boardman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Boardman ranks 33,767th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and affordable childcare, and lowest on car insurance costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Boardman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,850. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,408 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is South Boardman safe?
Yes, South Boardman is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare South Boardman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Boardman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Boardman 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.
South Boardman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Boardman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Boardman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Boardman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Boardman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Boardman 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.