The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Michigan For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Michigan have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

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Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Michigan:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Michigan, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Wolverine State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Michigan that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Michigan at the moment? That would be Allegan according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Michigan for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Michigan For 2022

  1. Allegan
  2. Utica
  3. Grosse Pointe
  4. Springfield
  5. Eaton Rapids
  6. St. Clair
  7. Chelsea
  8. Frankenmuth
  9. Swartz Creek
  10. Zeeland

What's the best place to buy a home in Michigan for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Michigan and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Michigan.

For more Michigan reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Michigan For 2022

1. Allegan

Allegan, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Chris Light (talk). Origi | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,017
Median Home Price: $125,100
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: 2.5%
More on Allegan: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Utica

Utica, MI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,025
Median Home Price: $162,400
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 3.6%
More on Utica: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

3. Grosse Pointe

Grosse Pointe, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Umdet | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 5,176
Median Home Price: $338,100
Population Change: -0.6%
Home Price Change: -3.3%
More on Grosse Pointe: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

4. Springfield

Springfield, MI

Source: Flickr User coldwarspy1973 | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,188
Median Home Price: $79,700
Population Change: -0.1%
Home Price Change: 8.1%
More on Springfield: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Eaton Rapids

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,229
Median Home Price: $115,100
Population Change: -0.0%
Home Price Change: -4.0%
More on Eaton Rapids: Homes For Sale | Data

6. St. Clair

St. Clair, MI

Source: Wikipedia User P199 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,354
Median Home Price: $162,500
Population Change: 0.5%
Home Price Change: 3.0%
More on St. Clair: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

7. Chelsea

Chelsea, MI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,378
Median Home Price: $234,400
Population Change: 0.9%
Home Price Change: -1.3%
More on Chelsea: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

8. Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth, MI

Source: Wikipedia User AndrewHorne | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,396
Median Home Price: $210,700
Population Change: 2.3%
Home Price Change: 10.5%
More on Frankenmuth: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Swartz Creek

Swartz Creek, MI

Source: Wikipedia User donzigw | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,535
Median Home Price: $119,900
Population Change: 0.0%
Home Price Change: 1.3%
More on Swartz Creek: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Zeeland

Zeeland, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Nenyedi at English Wikipe | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,540
Median Home Price: $158,400
Population Change: -0.6%
Home Price Change: 6.2%
More on Zeeland: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Michigan for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Michigan. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Michigan with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Best Places To Raise A Family In Michigan

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for Michigan with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in Michigan, only 148 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 148 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Allegan is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Wolverine State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Michigan for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Michigan. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Michigan reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Michigan

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Allegan 1 $125,100 -0.4% 2.5%
Utica 2 $162,400 0.4% 3.6%
Grosse Pointe 3 $338,100 -0.6% -3.3%
Springfield 4 $79,700 -0.1% 8.1%
Eaton Rapids 5 $115,100 -0.0% -4.0%
St. Clair 6 $162,500 0.5% 3.0%
Chelsea 7 $234,400 0.9% -1.3%
Frankenmuth 8 $210,700 2.3% 10.5%
Swartz Creek 9 $119,900 0.0% 1.3%
Zeeland 10 $158,400 -0.6% 6.2%
Dowagiac 11 $74,700 -0.8% 5.1%
Petoskey 12 $221,900 -0.4% 25.4%
Belding 13 $104,200 0.2% 11.7%
Richmond 14 $187,900 -0.3% 3.1%
Northville 15 $343,900 -0.6% 3.8%
Milan 16 $176,500 -0.8% 3.7%
Manistee 17 $116,000 0.5% 6.5%
Holly 18 $134,500 -0.4% 11.0%
Huntington Woods 19 $372,200 -0.3% 2.6%
Rockford 20 $215,400 0.9% 14.8%
Ishpeming 21 $88,600 -0.5% 2.5%
Milford 22 $283,000 0.0% 10.2%
Marshall 23 $137,200 -0.7% 9.8%
Walled Lake 24 $150,100 -0.3% 2.2%
St. Louis 25 $81,100 -0.5% -1.2%
Hastings 26 $112,600 0.0% 1.2%
Iron Mountain 27 $96,100 -0.2% 12.0%
Hudsonville 28 $160,900 -0.2% 3.6%
River Rouge 29 $33,600 -0.5% -7.4%
Three Rivers 30 $87,000 -0.2% 1.3%
Brighton 31 $222,800 0.0% 5.3%
Houghton 32 $171,400 -0.8% 10.2%
Grand Ledge 33 $147,200 0.2% 3.4%
Grand Blanc 34 $191,400 -0.3% 11.9%
Flushing 35 $131,700 -1.0% 9.5%
St. Johns 36 $129,700 0.3% 5.8%
Hillsdale 37 $95,900 -0.3% 5.0%
Menominee 38 $81,700 -0.9% 5.3%
Ludington 39 $133,000 0.1% 6.9%
Center Line 40 $100,800 -0.6% 14.9%
St. Joseph 41 $205,600 0.1% 4.9%
Tecumseh 42 $147,700 0.1% 8.9%
Albion 43 $58,500 0.5% 3.0%
Greenville 44 $113,900 0.1% 12.1%
Mason 45 $139,700 -0.5% 3.5%
Lapeer 46 $119,700 -0.6% 7.0%
Alma 47 $85,100 -0.6% 0.6%
Charlotte 48 $105,000 -0.1% -1.0%
Grosse Pointe Farms 49 $357,100 -0.3% 0.5%
Plymouth 50 $337,300 0.5% 9.1%
Saline 51 $257,800 0.5% 1.4%
Ecorse 52 $43,500 0.3% 3.3%
Howell 53 $181,600 0.3% 6.1%
Marysville 54 $133,700 0.0% 0.1%
Benton Harbor 55 $59,000 -0.4% -6.8%
Flat Rock 56 $153,300 0.1% 1.7%
Alpena 57 $82,200 -0.5% 10.2%
Melvindale 58 $73,700 -0.5% 14.6%
Big Rapids 59 $100,100 0.0% 6.6%
Beverly Hills 60 $394,500 -0.1% 1.8%
Cadillac 61 $81,400 0.4% 5.3%
Farmington 62 $221,500 -0.4% 5.5%
Muskegon Heights 63 $42,900 -0.1% -2.3%
Highland Park 64 $50,200 -0.5% 9.8%
Sturgis 65 $89,400 -0.5% 5.3%
Grand Haven 66 $175,800 -0.0% 9.2%
Grosse Pointe Park 67 $370,000 -0.4% 3.2%
Niles 68 $86,000 -0.4% 0.7%
Ionia 69 $105,800 0.3% 8.4%
Fenton 70 $158,000 -0.1% 9.3%
South Lyon 71 $207,700 0.3% 8.1%
East Grand Rapids 72 $395,200 0.8% 5.7%
Clawson 73 $190,000 -0.5% 7.0%
Riverview 74 $152,800 -0.4% 2.3%
Escanaba 75 $87,500 -0.6% 1.6%
Coldwater 76 $93,400 -0.3% 5.9%
New Baltimore 77 $234,100 -0.2% 3.9%
Woodhaven 78 $176,600 -0.1% 10.5%
Rochester 79 $378,300 0.3% 3.3%
Sault Ste. Marie 80 $101,700 -0.5% 9.9%
Harper Woods 81 $101,700 -0.5% 21.7%
Wixom 82 $257,200 0.5% 3.2%
Owosso 83 $91,200 -0.4% 8.2%
Fraser 84 $151,700 -0.5% 1.7%
Berkley 85 $222,100 -0.1% 11.5%
Grosse Pointe Woods 86 $259,600 -0.6% 6.2%
Traverse City 87 $282,900 -0.3% 6.3%
Grandville 88 $177,300 -0.2% 9.6%
Mount Clemens 89 $118,800 -0.6% 15.2%
Hazel Park 90 $86,100 -0.4% 17.0%
Wayne 91 $98,900 -0.5% 16.2%
Trenton 92 $156,200 -0.4% 3.6%
Monroe 93 $131,900 -1.2% 7.8%
Ferndale 94 $178,400 0.0% 10.1%
Adrian 95 $79,800 -0.1% 3.9%
Marquette 96 $180,100 -0.9% -3.8%
Ypsilanti 97 $155,000 -0.2% 2.4%
Birmingham 98 $538,900 0.3% -0.5%
Hamtramck 99 $72,600 -0.5% 4.2%
Romulus 100 $109,900 0.1% 12.9%
Download The Entire Michigan Ranking Data

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About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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