Royal Oak Ranked 4th Among Michigan Towns for Young Families

Residents of Royal Oak clearly love their hometown. Last summer, a survey conducted by the city demonstrated as much, with 95 percent of polled residents indicating they're happy living here. 

Now, Royal Oak has some numbers to back it up as a destination to live and raise a family.


Mike Anderson of Nerdwallet.com, a personal finance website, named Royal Oak the fourth-best town in Michigan for young families. Troy earned the top spot.

The website used three main criteria in ranking the communities: Quality of public schools, cost of living and the community's economy and growth.

"Royal Oak supports a vibrant arts scene. The city arts commission just brought back its summer concert series, Art Explored Live, which features local bands on the Royal Oak Library Lawn," Anderson wrote. "Meanwhile, the Royal Oak Music Theatre and Landmark Theaters bring acclaimed international artists and independent films to town."

According to the site, Royal Oak earned a "8" rating from GreatSchools, thanks to the Royal Oak Schools performance.

The study also looked at economic growth.

"We assessed a town’s economy by looking at median household income and income growth over the last decade,"  Anderson wrote.  "Higher income and greater growth led to a higher overall score." 

Royal Oak's growth from 1999 to 2011 was 19.6 percent, topping the list of the top ten cities.

The rankings also took into account the following figures:

• Median home value: $167,000
• Monthly owner costs: $1,526
• Median household income: $62,495