Best PlacesWallin, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wallin, 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.
Wallin ranks 30,233rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wallin
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.
Wallin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wallin ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Wallin ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wallin
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wallin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,073, 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 Wallin's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Wallin
Wallin runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wallin.
Who works in Wallin, and how
Work in Wallin centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wallin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wallin.
What the weather is like in Wallin, month by month
Wallin sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 26° | 22° |
| April | 52° | 43° | 35° |
| July | 78° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 59° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Wallin
The nearest airport, Cherry Capital, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wallin
Schools across Wallin average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Ann Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Betsie Valley SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benzie Central Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Benzie Central Sr High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wallin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wallin 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 Wallin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wallin
Is Wallin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wallin ranks 30,233rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, quiet, and heat safety, 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 Wallin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,200. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $68,073 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Wallin safe?
Yes, Wallin is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
Compare Wallin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wallin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wallin 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.
Wallin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wallin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wallin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wallin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wallin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wallin 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.