Best PlacesWayne State, Detroit, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wayne State, Detroit, 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.
Wayne State, Detroit ranks 5,262nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wayne State, Detroit
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.
Wayne State, Detroit's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wayne State, Detroit ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$834 a month, better than 86% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
Where Wayne State, Detroit ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Household income$43,682 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Wayne State, Detroit
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wayne State, Detroit home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $43,682, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Wayne State, Detroit's effective rate of 1.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wayne State, Detroit
Wayne State, Detroit 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 Wayne State, Detroit.
Who works in Wayne State, Detroit, and how
Work in Wayne State, Detroit centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 33%
Life in Wayne State, Detroit
Wayne State, Detroit has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Wayne State, Detroit and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wayne State, Detroit, month by month
Wayne State, Detroit sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Wayne State, Detroit
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 18 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 168 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wayne State, Detroit
Schools across Wayne State, Detroit average a D, better than 16% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Golightly Education CenterD+ · 25% proficient
- Edmonson MontessoriD+ · 25% proficient
- University Preparatory Academy Psad ElementaryF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Detroit School Of ArtsF · 11% proficient
- University Preparatory Academy Psad High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wayne State, Detroit school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wayne State, Detroit 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 Wayne State, Detroit against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Wayne State, Detroit
Is Wayne State, Detroit a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wayne State, Detroit ranks 5,262nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise 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 Wayne State, Detroit expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,665. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $43,682 median income, cost of living beats 15% of neighborhoods.
Is Wayne State, Detroit safe?
Wayne State, Detroit is safer than 5% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,221 per resident a year.
Compare Wayne State, Detroit with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wayne State, Detroit. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wayne State, Detroit 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.
Wayne State, Detroit detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wayne State, Detroit: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wayne State, Detroit: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wayne State, Detroit: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wayne State, Detroit: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wayne State, Detroit 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.