Flint, MI — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Michigan·Flint

Genesee County · Flint · population 79,735

Affordability
Flint, MI
Image: Wikipedia · Flint, Michigan
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
57
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Flint stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $65,949
1-year -0.1%
5-yr CAGR +3.3%
vs 5-yr peak -5.5%
Population -0.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2024-08$66k$28k$43k$58k$73k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
74/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$993/mo$0$535$1,069202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent1189927580100120140160180200240280320202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 5.5
Buy

At a 5.5 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Flint on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 5.5 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
50 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
55 · w22%
Distance from peak
59 · w18%
Population growth
38 · w16%
Rent YoY
75 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
82 · w10%
Long thesis

Flint offers a $65,949 median home with +3.3% annualized 5-year appreciation. Affordability + positive trend is one of the better risk/reward setups in US residential — small downside, room to compound.

Short thesis

Flint's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Flint

Flint is a city in Genesee County, Michigan, with an estimated population of 79,735. The median home value in Flint is $65,949 as of 2026-04, down 0.1% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.3% annual growth (-5.5% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Flint average $993 per month, up 4.5% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 57 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Cheap entry point: $65,949 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.
○The data is the data: Flint has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.5% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Flint (Wikipedia)

Flint is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. The city's population was 81,252 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 79,735 in 2024, making it the largest city in Genesee County and the 12th-most populous city in Michigan. Located along the Flint River 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan region. The Flint metropolitan area is located entirely within Genesee County and is the fourth-largest metro area in Michigan, with a population of 406,892 in the 2020 census.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorSheldon Neeley
Area34.105 sq mi
Elevation755 ft
Settled1819
Nicknameubl
Motto"Strong and Proud"
Density2384.34/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Genesee County right now.

NWS active alerts (MI)Michigan Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Genesee County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Flint

22 tracked · ranked by median home value
1University Park$218,164+4.5%
2College Cultural$126,563-0.4%
3Central Park$91,151-10.9%
4Glendale Hills$89,175+6.3%
5Evergreen Valley Block$88,890+6.6%
6Fairfield Village$79,235-10.2%
7Circle Drive$70,249+0.9%
8Ballenger Hwy$64,545+6.8%
9Mott Park$64,213+10.7%
10Potter Longway$59,200+3.2%
11Grand Traverse District$52,982-19.7%
12Bel-Air Woods$49,499-10.1%
13South Parks$48,573-4.5%
14Ballenger Square Community$43,389+13.4%
15New Community Block$40,304+16.7%
16West Dewey Street Block$37,012+1.1%
17Sterling & Myrtle St.$36,413+8.1%
18Metawanee Hills$33,460+11.9%
19Civic Park$33,093-10.0%
20Odette,Witherbee,Iroquios$31,207+14.1%
21Northend Recreation Center$28,189+1.0%
22Columbia Heights$26,272-13.3%

Cities like Flint

Madison Heights, MI64 · RisingFerndale, MI61 · StableSouthfield, MI62 · RisingWyandotte, MI66 · Rising

Run the numbers for Flint

ToolCan I afford Flint?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Flint rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Flint to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolFlint cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
30° / 16°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 61°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
175
~48% of year
Annual precip
33″ rain
50″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Low

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Flint listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Flint area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
72%
Humid climate
Median household income
$68,500
Michigan state median
Top industries (state-level)
Manufacturing (auto)HealthcareTech (Detroit)

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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