Best Grand Rapids suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

Updated Sep 2026·15 suburbs considered, 10 listed

Jenison$282k median · 20.1 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 72 B−

East Grand Rapids$521k median · 17.7 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living DResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 76 B

A scene from Ada, Michigan. Ada Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of w:Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was

Forest Hills$499k median · 19.7 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living C−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 72 B−

Grandville$271k median · 18.0 min commute

Schools B+Cost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 71 B−

Allendale$308k median · 20.6 min commute

Schools B+Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 58 C

Grand Haven$250k median · 16.9 min commute

Schools BCost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 64 C+

Cutlerville$223k median · 20.7 min commute

Schools B−Cost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 62 C

Walker$295k median · 20.2 min commute

Schools B−Cost of living B+Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 65 C+

Comstock Park$235k median · 21.1 min commute

Schools C+Cost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 57 C−

Northview$289k median · 18.2 min commute

Schools C+Cost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 67 C+

This list's weighting

Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other Grand Rapids lists

Best Grand Rapids suburbs for families Most affordable Grand Rapids suburbs Shortest commutes to Downtown Grand Rapids Most walkable Grand Rapids suburbs Best Grand Rapids suburbs for young professionals How we score Grand Rapids suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Jenison (Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0); East Grand Rapids (WMrapids · CC BY-SA 4.0); Forest Hills (Larry Pieniazek, Lar (commons) or Lar(en:wp) (primary) · CC BY 2.5); Grandville (WMrapids · CC0); Allendale (Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0); Grand Haven (Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0); Comstock Park (Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0).