Best PlacesWhite Lake, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
White Lake ranks 972nd of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 White Lake
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.
White Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Lake ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of cities
Where White Lake ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 16% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 29% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in White Lake
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,514, 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 White Lake's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 White Lake
White Lake runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Lake.
Who works in White Lake, and how
Work in White Lake centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in White Lake
White Lake has more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of White Lake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in White Lake, month by month
White Lake sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of White Lake
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 31 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Lake
Schools across White Lake average a B−, better than 43% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Keith Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Dublin ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Country Oaks Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sashabaw Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Clifford H Smart Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Oak Valley Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Walled Lake Northern High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Clarkston High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Lakeland High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Lake 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 White Lake against the other 2,097 cities.
Who White Lake suits
Families
Schools land around the 43rd percentile and crime safety beats 85%.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of cities, health care access beats 81%, and it is quieter than 96%.
Common questions about living in White Lake
Is White Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Lake ranks 972nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on car insurance costs and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,139. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $101,514 median income, cost of living beats 60% of cities.
Is White Lake safe?
Yes, White Lake is safer than 85% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in White Lake?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 18. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of cities.
Is White Lake good for families?
Schools beat 43% of cities, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $916 a month.
Compare White Lake with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Lake 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.
White Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Lake 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.