Moving to
Forest Hills.

All Forest Hills data Compare Forest Hills

28,695people live here $158,005median household income▲ 96% above US $1,958median rent per month▲ 39% above US $498,500median home value▲ 50% above US

Forest Hills is an unincorporated community in Kent County, MI. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Forest Hills

Forest Hills is an unincorporated community in Michigan with household incomes running above the national average, commutes that run shorter than most cities, and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Forest Hills deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and larger class sizes than the national average.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Short commutes
Highly educated workforce

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Air quality concerns
High student-teacher ratio
Cold winters
Heavy snowfall — 78" per year

How Forest Hills compares

Median household income

Forest Hills$158,005

Michigan avg$72,875

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Forest Hills$1,958

Michigan avg$1,129

US$1,413

Median home value

Forest Hills$498,500

Michigan avg$231,600

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Forest Hills

Based on Forest Hills's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,916

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $78,320 a year
34% of Forest Hills renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$99,700

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $49,850
Homes cost 3.2× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 39% above US

$1,958/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $1,958 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $498,500. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $498,500 · 34% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.4% county unemployment

Unemployment in Kent County is 4.4%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Kent County (county-wide)

Safety

165 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Forest Hills doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Kent County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 727/100k · Policed by Kent County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▼ 24% below US

20 min average commute

Commutes are reasonable, averaging 19.7 minutes. Nothing heroic, and there's still time left over for a life after work. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 23% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

70%

Work from home

23%

Carpool

5.0%

Walk

1.1%

Other

0.7%

Public transit

0.6%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 81°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 21°F and snow a regular occurrence.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 97% above US

71% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

10 public schools inside the boundary

There are 10 public schools inside the boundary and 2 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 19:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Bottom line

Forest Hills's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and commutes that run shorter than most cities; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,958/mo) equals 15% of the median household income here, less than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (23% of workers here already work from home), people who want short commutes, and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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