Best PlacesThetford Center, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thetford Center, 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.
Thetford Center ranks 27,390th 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 Thetford Center
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.
Thetford Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thetford Center ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 73% of towns
Where Thetford Center ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thetford Center
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thetford Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,244, 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 Thetford Center's effective rate of 1.03%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Thetford Center
Thetford Center runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Thetford Center.
Who works in Thetford Center, and how
Work in Thetford Center centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Thetford Center
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thetford Center.
What the weather is like in Thetford Center, month by month
Thetford Center sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Thetford Center
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thetford Center
Schools across Thetford Center average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- George A Lacure Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Columbiaville Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Meachum ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Millington Junior High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Lakeville Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Mt Morris Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Millington High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Clio Area High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Lakeville High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thetford Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thetford Center 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 Thetford Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thetford Center
Is Thetford Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thetford Center ranks 27,390th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, low disaster risk, and civic engagement, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thetford Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,750. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $75,244 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Thetford Center safe?
Yes, Thetford Center is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Thetford Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thetford Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thetford Center 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.
Thetford Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thetford Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thetford Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thetford Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thetford Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thetford Center 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.