Living in Jackson, MI
Small city in Michigan
Jackson is a small city in Michigan, home to about 31,000 people, with 181,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is Jackson a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $202k and rents for $1,530 a month
- Low natural disaster risk: 1 federally declared disaster since 2000
- Mild summers: highs around 81°F
- Easy flying: DTW is 53 mi away
👎 Cons
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Fewer graduates: 15% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Weaker public schools: test results well below the US average
- Cloudier than most places
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Jackson ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Jackson: common questions
What is the cost of living in Jackson?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $202k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,530 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 92, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Jackson?
Michigan collects about $1,246 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.69% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Jackson safe?
Violent crime is well above the national rate (2.9× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Jackson?
Public schools in Jackson test well below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 19 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Jackson?
Jackson has cold winters: winter days average around 34°F and summer days around 81°F, with roughly 40″ of snow a year.
Does Jackson get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding and tornadoes: 1 federally declared disaster has hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.43 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Jackson?
The nearest major airport is DTW, about 53 mi away.
How Jackson scores
Each bar compares Jackson 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 Jackson
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 Jackson right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.