Royal Oak Ranked Among Michigan's Best Suburbs

ROYAL OAK, 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. Royal Oak ranked 33rd, according to Niche. Ann Arbor, East Grand Rapids, Bloomfield Township, Beverly Hills and Troy rounded out the top five.

“Royal Oak is a place that you want to be,” wrote one Niche.com user. “It is accommodating to not only older adults, but to everyone. They have a lot of events specifically for children and a lot for adults.”
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 Royal Oak's 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 the city of Royal Oak.