Best Cities to Live in Michigan

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While recent news about Michigan cities like Detroit and Flint has been pretty depressing, there is still a lot to love about the Great Lakes State. It’s hard not to be drawn to its beaches and woods, terrific universities, and a high concentration of excellent breweries. Also, the wild Upper Peninsula, with its old growth forests and old mining town ruins, is like another world, altogether. Check out our list of Michigan’s best cities to live in for advice on where to settle in the state. Spoiler alert: all of the top five are located in Oakland County.

1. Troy

Troy, a large Detroit suburb of over 83,000, is Michigan’s best city to live in. Troy’s population is affluent and well-educated, with a large part of the workforce employed in the city’s large automotive sector. Troy is also a college town, home to campuses of over half a dozen universities.

2. Royal Oak

The regally named Royal Oak ranks #2 on the list. A bit smaller than Troy, Royal Oak is also more affordable, boasting cheaper real estate prices and a lower cost of living, yet is nevertheless safe with a lower than average crime rate. Of note is the Detroit Zoo, which is located in the city.

3. Bloomfield Hills

Bloomfield Hills is a small city with an extremely wealthy populace boasting a median household income of over $170,000. Undoubtedly, it’s a great place to settle if you work in the area and can afford it. The city is the home of the Cranbrook Educational Community National Historic Landmark.

4. Rochester

Coming in at #4 is Rochester, a small, picturesque little midwestern city near many nature preserves with trails that can be used for cycling or hiking.

5. Farmington

Closing out the list is Farmington, a small, wealthy city noted for its great, award-winning public school system and historic downtown area, which has recently seen extensive development.

Rank	City
1	Troy
2	Royal Oak
3	Bloomfield Hills
4	Rochester
5	Farmington
6	Lake Orion
7	Traverse City
8	Novi
9	Portage
10	Hudsonville
11	Northville
12	Grand Haven
13	Zeeland
14	Jenison
15	Rockford
16	Marquette
17	Midland
18	West Bloomfield
19	Grandville
20	East Lansing
21	Clarkston
22	Grand Rapids
23	Holland
24	Oak Park
25	Southfield
26	Ypsilanti
27	Plymouth
28	Grosse Pointe
29	Brighton
30	Madison Heights
31	Waterford
32	Livonia
33	Ann Arbor
34	South Lyon
35	Allen Park
36	Canton
37	Grand Blanc
38	Oxford
39	Wyoming
40	White Lake
41	Fenton
42	Mount Pleasant
43	Flushing
44	Kalamazoo
45	Saint Clair Shores
46	Lansing
47	Adrian
48	Trenton
49	Howell
50	Wyandotte
51	Battle Creek
52	Southgate
53	Utica
54	Davison
55	Dearborn
56	Jackson
57	Redford
58	Macomb
59	Sterling Heights
60	Niles
61	Pontiac
62	Port Huron
63	Owosso
64	Lapeer
65	Garden City
66	Dearborn Heights
67	New Baltimore
68	Westland
69	Clinton Township
70	Belleville
71	Roseville
72	Eastpointe
73	Bay City
74	Monroe
75	Romulus
76	Taylor
77	Warren
78	Lincoln Park
79	Benton Harbor
80	Burton
81	Muskegon
82	Saginaw
83	Detroit
84	Flint
85	Hamtramck

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Methodology

We ranked a total of 2,509 qualified cities (those with populations above 25,000 and enough data for analysis) by five factors: employment (number of establishments, median earnings); housing (owner-occupied housing with a mortgage, monthly housing costs); quality of life (work commute, poverty levels); education (percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher); and health (obesity ratios).