Best PlacesSouthside, Lansing, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southside, Lansing, 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.
Southside, Lansing ranks 4,801st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Southside, Lansing
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.
Southside, Lansing's strengths and weaknesses
Where Southside, Lansing ranks high
- Cheap childcare$742 a month, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 72% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Southside, Lansing ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD, better than only 16% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Southside, Lansing
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southside, Lansing home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,966, 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 Southside, Lansing's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Southside, Lansing
Southside, Lansing runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Southside, Lansing.
Who works in Southside, Lansing, and how
Work in Southside, Lansing centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Southside, Lansing
Southside, Lansing has more parkland per resident than 90% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Southside, Lansing and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Southside, Lansing, month by month
Southside, Lansing sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Southside, Lansing
The nearest airport, Capital Region International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Southside, Lansing
Schools across Southside, Lansing average a D, better than 16% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Horizon Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Elliott Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Cole AcademyD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hope Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Washington Woods Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- East Intermediate SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Holt Senior High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Waverly Senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Everett High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southside, Lansing school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southside, Lansing 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 Southside, Lansing against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Southside, Lansing suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Southside, Lansing
Is Southside, Lansing a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southside, Lansing ranks 4,801st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southside, Lansing expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,010. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $56,966 median income, cost of living beats 36% of neighborhoods.
Is Southside, Lansing safe?
Southside, Lansing is safer than 39% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $587 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Southside, Lansing?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of neighborhoods.
Is Southside, Lansing good for families?
Schools beat 16% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $742 a month.
Compare Southside, Lansing with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southside, Lansing. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southside, Lansing 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.
Southside, Lansing detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southside, Lansing: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southside, Lansing: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southside, Lansing: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southside, Lansing: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southside, Lansing 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.