Best places to live in Michigan

3 Michigan metros scored on the default family weighting — schools and safety heaviest, then affordability, climate, college pipeline and jobs. Change the weights on the ranking engine to see your own order.

Who lives in Michigan

Population-weighted racial and ethnic composition across the 3 tracked Michigan metros, from Census ACS table B03002.

White (non-Hispanic)
66.2%
Hispanic or Latino
6.3%
Black (non-Hispanic)
17.6%
Asian (non-Hispanic)
4.9%
Other or two or more
5%

Diversity index 64/100 — how evenly the population is spread across these groups. It is descriptive, not a judgement: weight it up, down or to zero on the ranking engine.

#MetroScoreUS rankTypical homeSchoolsSafetyClimateDiversity
1Ann Arbor59.8#16 of 103$423k934817° / 83°65
2Grand Rapids55.6#36 of 103$361k744818° / 83°50
3Detroit47.5#65 of 103$270k514818° / 83°68

Figures are compiled estimates. Methodology and sources.