Best PlacesWolverine, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wolverine, 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.
Wolverine ranks 39,458th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wolverine
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.
Wolverine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wolverine ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$564 a month, better than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
Where Wolverine ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wolverine
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wolverine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,086, 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 Wolverine's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wolverine
Wolverine 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 Wolverine.
Who works in Wolverine, and how
Work in Wolverine centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Wolverine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wolverine.
What the weather is like in Wolverine, month by month
Wolverine sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Wolverine
The nearest airport, Pellston Regional/Emmet County, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 221 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wolverine
Schools across Wolverine average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wolverine Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Inland Lakes Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Wolverine Middlehigh SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wolverine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wolverine 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 Wolverine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wolverine
Is Wolverine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wolverine ranks 39,458th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, affordable childcare, and low crime, and lowest on the schools and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wolverine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,703. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $61,086 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Wolverine safe?
Yes, Wolverine is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Wolverine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wolverine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wolverine 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.
Wolverine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wolverine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wolverine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wolverine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wolverine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wolverine 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.