Living in Bay City, MI
Small city in Michigan
Bay City is a small city in Michigan, home to about 32,000 people, with 190,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, there is some transit, though many people drive. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are mostly houses.
Is Bay City a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $130k and rents for $1,400 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 80°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 1 federally declared disaster since 2000
- Dog-friendly: 1 dog park within 9 mi
👎 Cons
- Fewer graduates: 18% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 190,000 people live within 31 mi
- Cloudier than most places
- Weaker public schools: test results well below the US average
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Bay City ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Bay City: common questions
What is the cost of living in Bay City?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $130k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,400 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 92, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Bay City?
Michigan collects about $1,246 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.9% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Bay City safe?
Violent crime is well above the national rate (2.2× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Bay City?
Public schools in Bay City test well below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 16 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Bay City?
Bay City has long, snowy winters: winter days average around 32°F and summer days around 80°F, with roughly 49″ of snow a year.
Does Bay City get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding, cold waves and tornadoes: 1 federally declared disaster has hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.89 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Bay City?
The nearest major airport is GRR, about 96 mi away.
How Bay City scores
Each bar compares Bay City with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Bay City
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Michigan.
Is Bay City right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.