QoL Rank
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Michigan

Michigan has a quality of life score of 46/100 (C, average) and ranks #33 of 51 states. Its strongest category is safety (57) and its weakest is education (30). Its top-rated larger counties are Ottawa County, Clinton County, Livingston County.

  • Safety: 57
  • Cost of living: 53
  • Education: 30
  • Quality of life: 45

Key figures: violent crime 426.6 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,129 a month; median home value $231,600; median household income $69,097; life expectancy 76.2 years.

Counties in Michigan, best first

  1. Ottawa County 71
  2. Clinton County 68
  3. Livingston County 67
  4. Houghton County 65
  5. Emmet County 65
  6. Grand Traverse County 65
  7. Dickinson County 65
  8. Midland County 64
  9. Gogebic County 63
  10. Oakland County 62
  11. Charlevoix County 62
  12. Leelanau County 62
  13. Presque Isle County 62
  14. Keweenaw County 62
  15. Ontonagon County 62
  16. Allegan County 61
  17. Alger County 60
  18. Baraga County 59
  19. Kent County 59
  20. Huron County 58
  21. Washtenaw County 58
  22. Marquette County 58
  23. Eaton County 58
  24. Delta County 57
  25. Antrim County 56
  26. Menominee County 56
  27. Bay County 55
  28. Mason County 55
  29. Chippewa County 54
  30. Crawford County 54
  31. Arenac County 54
  32. Alpena County 54
  33. Schoolcraft County 54
  34. Otsego County 53
  35. Iron County 53
  36. Missaukee County 52
  37. Ingham County 52
  38. Ionia County 52
  39. Barry County 52
  40. Iosco County 52
  41. Macomb County 51
  42. Luce County 51
  43. Shiawassee County 51
  44. Lapeer County 51
  45. Mackinac County 51
  46. Monroe County 51
  47. Benzie County 51
  48. Wexford County 51
  49. Gratiot County 50
  50. Lenawee County 50
  51. Sanilac County 50
  52. Newaygo County 49
  53. Van Buren County 49
  54. St. Clair County 49
  55. Isabella County 48
  56. Manistee County 47
  57. Kalamazoo County 47
  58. Branch County 47
  59. Cheboygan County 47
  60. Tuscola County 47
  61. Oceana County 46
  62. Cass County 46
  63. Jackson County 45
  64. Kalkaska County 45
  65. Oscoda County 45
  66. Osceola County 44
  67. St. Joseph County 44
  68. Berrien County 44
  69. Montcalm County 43
  70. Gladwin County 43
  71. Muskegon County 43
  72. Roscommon County 43
  73. Alcona County 42
  74. Mecosta County 42
  75. Hillsdale County 42
  76. Ogemaw County 42
  77. Montmorency County 41
  78. Saginaw County 41
  79. Calhoun County 40
  80. Genesee County 39
  81. Lake County 39
  82. Clare County 35
  83. Wayne County 31

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources