Rochester Hills Ranked 3rd Among Michigan Towns for Young Families

Residents of Rochester Hills clearly love their hometown. This summer, a survey conducted by the city demonstrated as much, with 99 percent of polled residents indicating they're happy living there. 

Now, Rochester Hills 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 Rochester Hills the third-best town in Michigan for young families. Troy and Portage earned the top two spots, respectively.

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

"The city is home to two universities, and both do their fair share to support the surrounding community," Anderson wrote. "Oakland University, for example, maintains a lifelong-learning program which brings guest lecturers and more for older residents in the area."

According to the site, Rochester Hills earned a perfect "10" rating from GreatSchools, thanks to the Rochester and Avondale districts' performance.

The rankings also took into account the following figures:

• Median home value: $226,400
• Monthly owner costs: $1,987
• Median household income: $79,009
• Growth from 1999-2011: 5.5 percent