Rochester Hills Ranked 16th Best Michigan Suburb

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — How do you define a great place to live? According to Niche.com, which just released the 2017 Best Suburbs to Live in America rankings, there are several factors that a suburb is judged on, including school quality, amount of crime, housing trends, employment stats and access to amenities.

Based on those factors, as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and more, Niche came up with the Top 100 suburbs in America and in Michigan. Rochester Hills ranked 16th and the city of Rochester was 21st, according to Niche. Ann Arbor, East Grand Rapids, Bloomfield Township, Beverly Hills and Troy rounded out the top five.

"People are generally friendly, and sports generally dominates the youth culture in the area,” a former Rochester Hills resident wrote on Niche. “The Village is the main attraction and resembles the larger downtown area, with great restaurants and an attractive nightlife.”

Carmel, Indiana landed in the No. 1 spot nationwide. Ann Arbor had the highest national ranking of any Michigan community at No. 7. Here’s a list of how some of Rochester Hills’ neighbors did in Niche’s rankings for Michigan:

• Birmingham, 13th
• Novi, 14th
• Rochester Hills, 16th
• City of Rochester, 21st
• City of Plymouth, 25th
• Plymouth Township, 26th
• Canton Township, 27th
• Royal Oak, 33rd
• City of Dearborn 88th

Michael Woyton (Patch Staff) contributed to this report. Photo courtesy of Google Maps