Michigan's Snobbiest Cities: Is Your City on the List?

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Northville, smell you.

That fiery glare you’re delivering is burning right through the computer. Please don’t blame the messenger.

The assessment comes from the website RoadSnacks, which analyzed housing costs, household income, education levels, and the number of private schools, theaters and art galleries per capita to come up with its ranking of Michigan’s snobbiest cities.

The analysis included the 61 Michigan cities and townships with 5,000 or more residents, based on the 2013 American Community Survey. Northville has plenty of nearby company on the list.

RoadSnacks swears it’s all in good fun, and remember – these are Chris Komar’s words.

No. 1 Northville

Population: 5,996 Median household income: $88,23 Median home price: $118,500

“There are snooty places, then there are snobby places, and then there’s Northville. … The small town combines unparalleled wealth (the highest median household income in Michigan) with expensive homes (second highest in Michigan) to create an enclave of snobbery.

“It’s probably the kind of place where you need to belong to the right book club and your kids have to go to private school, where it ranks as having the third-most per capita in the Great Lake State.”

No. 2 Rochester

Population: 12,647 Median household income: $80,747 Median home price: $262,100

“... It boasts the most expensive McMansions in Michigan with a median price of over $262,000 and the fourth most galleries per capita.

“It’s the kind of place with an over the top Christmas parade every year and farmers markets every Sunday.”

No. 3 Plymouth

Population: 9,070 Median household income: $63,875 Median home price:$194,400

“While it couldn’t compete with the income and home prices of Northville and Rochester, it makes up for it in snobby things to do.

“Plymouth is the kind of snobby that calls their ice sculpting festival the ‘Plymouth Ice Spectacular.’ And with the second-most theatres (yes, they say theatres there) per capita in Michigan, you get events like ‘Music in the Air’ and ‘Art in the Park.’ ”

No. 4 Royal Oak

Population: 57,761 Median household income: $62,453 Median home price: $159,800

“There’s a decent size gap between the snob levels of the top three cities on the list and Royal Oak, the fourth snobbiest place in Michigan.

“While the median household income for Royal Oak still places it in the top ten of Michigan, it doesn’t quite live up to the royalty in its name.

“But what it lacks in (relative) income, it makes up for in snobby amenities. It has the sixth-most theaters per capita and the seventh-most art galleries per capita.

“And when your city is the setting of ‘Home Improvement,’ you know that you have royally snobby aspirations.”

No. 5 Traverse City

Population: 14,702 Median household income: $44,542 Median home price: $174,500

“Traverse City isn’t bitter about being the fifth-snobbiest place in Michigan, but it might be a little tart. That’s because it’s the largest producer of tart cherries in the U.S. And in true snob fashion, had to name its festival the ‘National Cherry Festival’ because anything less grandiose wouldn’t be snobby enough.

“In other, more measurable levels of snobbiness Traverse City ranks as having the most private schools per capita and the most theatres per capita in Michigan.”

No. 6 Petoskey

Population: 5,710 Median household income: $42,056 Median home price: $190,800

“The sixth-snobbiest place ranking goes to Petoskey, which has been described as a ‘Coastal Resort Community.’ Because, you know, being just a city isn’t enough.

“Petoskey, located in the most northern part of The Mitten, didn’t take the stereotypical path to snobbery. It actually has the lowest median household income of any place in the Top 1-, but it makes up for it with the most galleries per capita and second most private schools per capita.

“Not to mention the city named a stone after itself, Petoskey stones, which it (probably) lobbied to make the state stone of Michigan. How snobby can you get?”

No. 7 Troy

Population: 81,307 Median household income: $86,465 Median home price: $226,200

“Troy ranks as the seventh-snobbiest place in Michigan and is no stranger to being on lists at RoadSnacks, as it also ranked as one of the most boring.

“But I guess you don’t need much to do when you can swim around in cash, Troy has the second-highest median household income in the Wolverine State and the fourth highest median home price.

“So I’m pretty sure the city was oblivious to our ranking them as boring since their noses are so high in the air.”

No. 8 Novi

Population: 55,319 Median household income: $78,430 Median home price: $242,600

“Novi actually tied Troy in terms of their level of snobbishness, but a slightly lower median household income broke the tie and put them into eighth place.

“But don’t feel bad for Novi; the median home price ranks as the third-highest in Michigan and they have are a ‘major shopping destination.’ ”

No. 9 Okemos

Population: 20,885 Median household income: $71,291 Median home price: $195,800

“Okemos ranks as the ninth-snobbiest place in Michigan and, odds are, the people living there are smarter than you.

“... Okemos has more college graduates per capita than any other place in Michigan. In fact, a staggering 71 percent of people have graduated from college. Probably has something to do with East Lansing and Michigan State being next door.

“The second- most educated place in Michigan, Northville, is 13.4 percentage points behind Okemos (71.1 percent vs 57.7 percent). So my bet is they don’t even bother with the internet there and only read the Economist and the Harvard Business Review.”

No. 10 Saline

Population: 8,845 Median household income: $66,543 Median home price: $194,100

“ … Saline has seventh-highest median household income in Michigan and the eighth-highest median home price. So the price of admission to this small city is high.

“But it’s not quite as snobby as some of the other places on this list because it doesn’t offer the same level of snob-menities; it actually has a below average number of private schools per capita for Michigan.

“So of all the places on the list, this one may be the most down-to-Earth, like where you live. Maybe.”

The full list can be found here.