Best PlacesWaverly, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waverly, 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.
Waverly ranks 12,072nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waverly
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.
Waverly's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waverly ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
Where Waverly ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waverly
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waverly home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,506, 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 Waverly's effective rate of 1.55%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waverly
Waverly runs older 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 Waverly.
Who works in Waverly, and how
Work in Waverly centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Waverly
Waverly has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waverly and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waverly, month by month
Waverly sees roughly 68 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 Waverly
The nearest airport, Capital Region International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waverly
Schools across Waverly average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Ridge Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Delta Center Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Elmwood Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kenneth T Beagle Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Waverly Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- East Intermediate SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Ledge High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Waverly Senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Insight School Of MichiganD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waverly school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waverly 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 Waverly against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Waverly suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Waverly
Is Waverly a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waverly ranks 12,072nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waverly expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,036. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $77,506 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Waverly safe?
Yes, Waverly is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waverly?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of towns.
Is Waverly good for families?
Schools beat 42% of towns, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $733 a month.
Compare Waverly with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waverly. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waverly 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.
Waverly detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waverly: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waverly: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waverly: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waverly: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waverly 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.