This Michigan Beach Town is Ranked Number One in the U.S.

Did you know that you're never more than six miles from a body of water and about 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline?

According to the Michigan DNR, we have over 11,000 lakes in our state.

Wallethub recently compared all 50 states to find out what city was the best beach town to live in and broke it into two categories. They did towns located next to oceans and lakes.

And of course, we took the number one spot for best lake beach towns to live in.

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How They Determined What Beach Town Was The Best

Wallethub compared housing costs, household income, the amount of waterfront homes available, quality of beach water, recreational establishments and more.

It's no surprise here that Traverse City snatched the top spot.

Here's their top 5 Best Beach Towns to Live in (Lake):

Traverse City, MI
Folsom, CA
Redmond, WA
Mercer Island WA
Cornelius, NC

Michigan didn't only cop the number one spot, two more cities made it into the top 20. Alpena came in at number 18 and Holland took number 19. Port Huron also made the list at number 44.

You can see what other cities made both the best ocean and lake beach towns to live in on Wallethub's website.

Things To Do in Traverse City

I feel like things would go a lot quicker if we named the things that you couldn't do in Traverse City.

Basically whatever you're looking to do, you can do it in TC.

If beer is your thing, there's tons of microbreweries, brewpubs, and taprooms to visit.

Or maybe you're a fan of wine, they have several wine tours you can take part in!

After all of that drinking, you're probably going to want to get a little exercise in. You can do that too!

Why not go for a hike or bike? Maybe relax a little and catch a couple of fish or hit a few golf balls. If you're visiting in the winter, there's always skiing and snowboarding.

Don't forget to stop by Michigan's best vacation spot! Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a must see.

Do you think you have it in you to do the famous Dune Climb?

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

The Scenic Beauty Of Northeast Michigan

Big Seven Travel has named the River Road National Scenic Byway as Michigan's "Most Scenic Drive" for 2021. It is a gorgeous stretch of road filled with forests, trails, scenic overlooks and runs parallel to the historic Au Sable River

MORE: The Ten Most Beautiful Campgrounds in Michigan

UP NEXT: Michigan Waterfalls You Absolutely Have to Visit

Filed Under: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Traverse City

Categories: Articles