Best PlacesTuscola County, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tuscola County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tuscola County ranks 2,010th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Tuscola County
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.
The best areas in Tuscola County
The parts of Tuscola County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Reese
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and commutes are shorter.
Cass City
Tree cover is thinner and crime runs higher.
Vassar & Millington
More households have young kids.
Caro
Incomes run lower and prices have run up more.
Scores across Tuscola County run from about the 9th to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Tuscola County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tuscola County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap childcare$550 a month, better than 83% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Tuscola County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of counties
- Short commute29.6 minutes each way, better than only 17% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tuscola County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tuscola County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,356, 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 Tuscola County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Tuscola County
Tuscola County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tuscola County.
Who works in Tuscola County, and how
Work in Tuscola County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Tuscola County
Tuscola County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 71% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tuscola County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Tuscola County growing, and who is moving in?
Tuscola County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tuscola County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tuscola County, month by month
Tuscola County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Tuscola County
The nearest airport, MBS International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tuscola County
Schools across Tuscola County average a C−, better than 19% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lorenz C List SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Cass City ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Marlette ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ef Rittmueller Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Reese Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Unionvillesebewaing Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Frankenmuth High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Millington High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Kingston High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tuscola County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tuscola County 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 Tuscola County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Tuscola County suits
Families
Schools land around the 19th percentile and crime safety beats 87%.
Common questions about living in Tuscola County
Is Tuscola County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tuscola County ranks 2,010th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, low crime, and affordable childcare, 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 Tuscola County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,556. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,356 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is Tuscola County safe?
Yes, Tuscola County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tuscola County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 19. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tuscola County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Reese, Cass City, and Vassar & Millington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Tuscola County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tuscola County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tuscola County 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.
Tuscola County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tuscola County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tuscola County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tuscola County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tuscola County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tuscola County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.