A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Three Rivers$1,470/mo

Typical home $230K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.38% · or rent about $839/mo · Housing →

Melvindale$940/mo

Typical home $143K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.58% · or rent about $1,110/mo · Housing →

The difference: $530 a month, about $6,300 a year, between Three Rivers and Melvindale.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Three Rivers places higher on 13 of 20 MI lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Michigan ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

–Three RiversNot graded CMelvindaleSafer than 33% of U.S. towns

Schools

B+Three RiversBetter than 70% of districts in the state CMelvindaleBetter than 25% of districts in the state

Health

C−Three RiversHealthier than 24% of U.S. towns D−MelvindaleHealthier than 2% of U.S. towns

13Three Rivers

6Melvindale

Lists won, of 20 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Most new homesHousing · 512 towns #133#443 Best schoolsSchools · 493 towns #229#485 Shortest commuteGetting around · 723 towns #86#393 Cheapest rentCost of living · 687 towns #126#415 Fastest growingGrowth · 723 towns #324#30 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 723 towns #556#272 Most activeHealth · 723 towns #489#713 Most remote workersWork · 714 towns #662#515

Left end = #1 in Michigan. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Three Rivers’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Three RiversMelvindale

Snow a year41″31″

January low17°F 18°F

July high82°F 84°F

Growing season (days)170d 166d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)57th 28th

Outdoors & history

Three RiversMelvindale

Trails2 mi 1 mi

Conserved land3.1%2.2%

Settled—1924

National Register places2 —

Archive photos—12

Famous people born here—3

Community

Three RiversMelvindale

Library hours a week42 hrs 37 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

128 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Three RiversMI MelvindaleMI

Three Rivers ↔ Melvindale128 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Michigan average

Three RiversMelvindale

People

Population 7,943Lowest 12,554Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +2.1%Lowest MI: +2% +19.9%Highest MI: +2%

Median age 35±2.2Highest 13% below MI 31.3±3.1Lowest 22% below MI

Three Rivers and Melvindale are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 25.5%±3.2Lowest MI: 21.2% 32.3%±5.3Highest MI: 21.2%

Melvindale and Three Rivers are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 14.8%±3.1Highest MI: 18.6% 10.6%±2.6Lowest MI: 18.6%

Three Rivers and Melvindale are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 14.2%Highest MI: 32.4% 14%Lowest MI: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 2.6%±1Lowest MI: 6.1% 6.4%±3.4Highest MI: 6.1%

Melvindale and Three Rivers are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $49,503±$6kHighest 32% below MI $42,185±$6kLowest 42% below MI

Three Rivers and Melvindale are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $134,900±$8kHighest 42% below MI $125,800±$11kLowest 46% below MI

Three Rivers and Melvindale are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Rentmedian gross, monthly $839±$46Lowest 26% below MI $1,110±$109Highest about the MI average

Property taxmedian, yearly $1,863Lowest 36% below MI $1,993Highest 31% below MI

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 37.4%±9.8Lowest MI: 50.4% 66.2%±18.8Highest MI: 50.4%

Below poverty line 15%Lowest MI: 13.2% 39.1%Highest MI: 13.2%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 53%Lowest MI: 73.2% 60.8%Highest MI: 73.2%

Typical home builtmedian year 1954Highest 18 yrs older than MI 1950Lowest 22 yrs older than MI

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 19 minLowest 23% below MI 25 minHighest 4% above MI

Work from home 3.9%±1.8Lowest MI: 13.5% 7.5%±4.4Highest MI: 13.5%

Melvindale and Three Rivers are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 22%Highest 3.8%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 19.3 miHighest 12.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.33Highest 0.60Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Kalamazoo (5%)Detroit (15%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in MelvindaleFew work in Three Rivers

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 3.1%Highest 2.2%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 1.7 miHighest 0.8 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.3 mi 0.3 mi

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 9Highest 6Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 64.0Lowest 94.7Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #229 of 493 in MI #485 of 493 in MI

School district Three Rivers Community SchoolsAcademy for Business and Technology · Melvindale-Northern Allen Park Schools

High school in town Three Rivers High SchoolAcademy for Business and Technology High School

Students per teacherat that high school 18.3Highest 11.7Lowest

Michigan average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Three Rivers neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Three Rivers’s Town Square.

Melvindale neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Melvindale’s Town Square.

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Set another town beside Three Rivers and Melvindale

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Three Rivers

+ Compare

Lockport Township3,763 people · $198K homes

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Fabius Township3,317 people · $271K homes

Towns like Three Rivers

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Dowagiac5,732 people · $131K homes

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Springfield5,269 people · $111K homes

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Benton Township14,234 people · $149K homes

+ Compare

Lapeer9,082 people · $178K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Three Rivers vs Melvindale

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $530 more a month in Three Rivers

Three Rivers places higher on 13 of 20 MI lists

What daily life feels like in each

128 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Three Rivers and Melvindale

Bordering Three Rivers

Towns like Three Rivers

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