Chilling in the heart of Metro Detroit, Huntington Woods, Michigan, is often hailed as a hidden gem—a place where charming historic homes meet modern convenience, and your neighbors are more likely to lend you a cup of sugar than a side-eye. Known for its tree-lined streets, top-rated schools, and an unbeatable sense of community, it’s the kind of city that looks straight out of a Hallmark movie. But before you start picturing yourself sipping coffee on a porch swing, there are a few quirks to uncover—like sky-high property taxes that might leave your wallet screaming louder than your kids at the Detroit Zoo. So, let’s dig into the good, the bad, and the ugly realities of calling Huntington Woods Michigan home!
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan, also known as the “city of homes” being as this 1.49 square mile city is just a big ole neighborhood of early 20th-century houses, ranging from Tudor and Colonial styles to mid-century modern designs smack dab in the middle of Metro Detroit in Oakland County along the Woodward corridor with a population of around 6,300 people.
Aside from the Detroit Zoo being in Huntington Woods backyard, and crossing over into Royal Oak as well, it’s a 125-acre wildlife sanctuary home to over 2,000 animals from 230 species, offering immersive exhibits like the Arctic Ring of Life and the Penguin Conservation Center. Known for its focus on conservation and education, it’s a must-visit destination where visitors can experience close encounters with nature while learning how to protect it. I still can’t believe there are some people who have not been there, it doesn’t matter if you’re an infant in a stroller or 115 years old, this is an interesting experience for everyone.
Anyway sorry for the tangent, all that to say, there’s more to this little city than just being known as a convenient spot to live to access the Detroit Zoo.
Just geographically speaking, for being known as the city of homes, there’s enough amenities nearby to bring your bank account to zero after every paycheck. Huntington Woods is touching Royal Oak for that downtown experience and nightlife, Ferndale is right up the corridor for a little of the same, Berkley, Birmingham for some downtown experiences, Southfield for additional store offerings, Troy 20 minutes up the road, and downtown Detroit 20 minutes down the road. I’ll be sure to link a few videos: Birmingham Michigan, Troy Michigan, Berkley Michigan, Ferndale Michigan, and Royal Oak Michigan that I did about some of the nearby cities so you can get a sense of what they’re all about too.
All that while being situated right by not only the Woodward Corridor but I-696, and I-75 for all your north, south, east and west travel. So for that, we will chalk it up as a commuters dream especially if you are working in any of those areas that I rattled off, but with this scrumptious location comes some downsides and some good depending on how you look at it. Traffic within Huntington Woods is generally manageable, with residents experiencing minimal congestion on the local streets. However, the city's proximity to those major expressways can lead to increased traffic during peak hours, especially near the Detroit Zoo and surrounding areas, but on the other end of the spectrum if one expressway is clogged up you have a few different options to get around it.
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Amenities
One of the biggest misconceptions that anyone could have about Huntington woods Michigan is the fact that it’s just this pass through town, and people wouldn’t really know about it if the Detroit Zoo didn’t have anything to do with it, and although that may be a little true about the Detroit Zoo aspect, this is not a city that’s just a pass through because although the corridor and the highways are nearby, there’s not just a road that passes right through this city to disrupt the life, which is why and how the city has been able to maintain a community feel despite everything going on around them which is awesome because not having a designated downtown space can definitely hinder that in a community.
Huntington Woods Michigan Attractions
Different attractions like the Rackham golf course, the Huntington woods parks and rec area with an aquatic club, and tennis courts situated in the Gillham Recreation Center which includes the Huntington Woods Library and Cultural Center, Burton Elementary School and Burton Community Park, as well as the Huntington woods men’s club field off 11 mile road, Reynolds park and the public tennis courts near the Woodward corridor, and you might be thinking, that doesn’t sound like much, but the city definitely makes the most of it by doing day trips out of the recreation center, classes, a week-long celebration for the July 4th with a parade, fireworks, breakfasts, lunches, concerts, contests and so much more.
The HARP program that is a volunteer program to have resident homeowners over the age of 60 with disabilities, as well as Smart Connector Transportation for residents who are at least 55 years of age or differently abled adults of any age which runs Monday - Friday, 6:00 am - 6:00 pm for curb-to-curb transportation on the City SMART van for all activities of daily living, followed by drop in sports and activities at the rec center, along with concerts in the park every week with food trucks, AND they do an annual reception for new residents. On top of that to keep the community informed, the hometown herald, a newsletter put out 3 times a year dishing out all the happenings and changes going on in the city.
If this isn’t a city involved in creating the tightest community possible, I don’t know what is.
You wouldn’t be able to conclude all this by looking at a map. I also wanted to be sure to include their Parks and recreation master plan in the description that is whopping 135 pages long. This Harry Potter novel sized plan, goes over their planning process, community and cultural characteristics from age, employment, income and education to funding and budgets, recreation inventory, goals and action plans, and so much more.
What caught my attention about this plan most was the Huntington Woods Survey in Appendix A of the masterplan which received nearly 300 resident responses answering questions from open ended questions asking about what needs to be brought to the departments attention and how important current programs are to how they can rework the cities current offers to cater to the wants and needs of their residents. It’s incredible how committed the local municipality is to put their residents at the forefront. This is an underrated community solely because you wouldn’t know any of this unless you planted your two feet in the community and saw it with your own two eyes.
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Rankings
Some other notable rankings that truly put the ribbon the top of this little city brought to you by niche.com is not only is the city of Huntington Woods ranked #2 best places to raise a family in the Detroit area, it ranks #3 of 802 best places to raise a family in Michigan as a whole, #3 of 337 best suburbs to raise a family in Michigan and #6 of 338 best suburbs to buy a house in Michigan, and the area has earned an overall grade of an A+ which was given based on data for the following categories: public schools, housing, good for families, jobs, cost of living, outdoor activities, crime and safety, nightlife, diversity, weather, health and fitness, as well as commute.
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Schools
If you didn’t catch it, Huntington Woods is also known for their awesome schools. The area is served by the school district of Royal Oak, as well as the Berkley city school district.
Royal Oak Michigan School District
Niche.com gives the Royal oak School district an overall grade of a B+ and a ranking of #27 best school districts in the Detroit area, as well as #93 of 539 best school districts in Michigan and #201 of 517 districts with the best teachers in Michigan.
Berkley Michigan School District
On the other hand, the Berkley school district received an an overall grade of an A, and is ranked #26 best school districts in Michigan, #12 of 517 districts with the best teachers in Michigan, #14 of 507 best places to teach in Michigan and #26 of 539 best school districts in Michigan. I will be sure to include more information for both these school districts in the description too.
That all sounds so fine and dandy, but the question is, what’s the catch, where’s the fine print? A commuters dream, surrounded by a pool of amenities, a community most people would die for, and to top it off, awesome schools?
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Home Prices
Well, the fine print is that a place like this comes at a high cost. To take that point home, we are going to take a gander at this handy dandy graph provided by the MLS that shows the average sale price as a whole in blue and the average price in Huntington woods in green over the last 3 years, which comes out to be a whopping $562,036, a 6.1% increase over the last 12 months. Over the last 365 days, there have been 82 homes sold in Huntington woods ranging from a $269,900 home, and before you say that’s not too expensive, understand that this bad boy is right on 11 mile road which is a busy spot on the north side of Huntington Woods.
Cheapest Huntington Woods Michigan Home For Sale #1
it is a bungalow with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, 2,154 total square feet, without a garage, situated on 0.13 acres, and built in 1954. Although only having 8 pictures, it’s been spruced up over the last couple years, and is a nice affordable option in the one and only Huntington Woods, if and only if you don’t mind being off the busy road, and keep in mind, these aren’t big lots so homes aren’t situated further back making it a little more bearable, it’s just BOOM house, unless you have a detached garage behind the house you can pull all the way back to, but that doesn’t help the problem of needing to turn around so you can pull out of the driveway forward. Just those things people don’t think about.
Most Expensive Huntington Woods Michigan Home For Sale #1
Then the price takes us to a $1.259 million dollar contemporary cape cod. Before I proceed, if you like wood accents, shut this video off before you start drooling and make an irreversible money decision. This 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom, home with 4,550 total square feet with a 2 car attached garage situated on 0.37 acres and built in 1951 was freshly remodeled in 2023 and I’m sure this home broke a lot of hearts when it sold so quick.
But if you’re someone that’s like what about that 300 to 400K range? Well, these homes are between the 1930’s and 1950’s, fairly outdated depending on the size and need a little TLC but have great character, with there archways from room to room and the old finishes that are slowly coming back on trend. You do not need to spend a million dollars on a home here, but understand just like most communities, you get what you pay for in reference to the area's average sale price and sometimes they need a little love, and that’s okay especially if the community is what you’re looking for.
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Property Taxes
On top of that half a million dollar average price tag for a home, we can’t downplay the property taxes here. Like I said, Huntington Woods is serviced by two school districts; Royal Oak and Berkley which have separate millage rates, which are used to calculate property taxes. In RO, if the home is your primary residence, it’s a rate of 44.8493 and in Berkley it’s 46.5482, i’ll link the PDF for all these rates HERE. Let’s take the average sale price of the area and round it to $562,000.
If you take 50% of that, which is $281,000 and multiply it by Royal oak’s millage rate of 44.8493 and divide it by 1,000, you have an annual property tax bill of $12,602.65 and if you do the same with Berkley’s millage rate of 46.5482, it comes out to be $13,080.04 a year. Not a huge difference, but savings is savings so that’s something to keep in mind when you are looking for a home in the area. And as I say when talking about property tax calculations in my videos and blog posts, this is my formula for a higher estimate because I believe in planning for the worst possible situation, whereas most lenders and information provided by third party home searches give you what the current owner pays, not what you will a year later when that home’s taxable value uncaps after a home transfer.
Imagine moving in with a certain payment in mind just to be hit in the face a year later with a bill that’s thousands and thousands more? It could be the difference of you affording that home versus not, so please please make note of that whether you’re moving to Huntington Woods or anywhere in Michigan.
Living In Huntington Woods Michigan
Huntington Woods Michigan Resident Reviews
If you ask current and past residents about living in Huntington Woods, you’ll hear a mix of glowing praise and a few candid critiques. Many people highlight the city’s safety, excellent schools, and beautiful homes as major selling points. With frequent comments of "It’s a perfect place to raise a family," and “You pay for what you get—it’s beautiful but expensive.” A few former residents mentioned the quiet atmosphere as a downside, especially for those who enjoy a livelier community. Ultimately, resident reviews and feedback is overwhelmingly positive, but as with any city, it all depends on what you’re looking for.
For those of you reading, what are your thoughts on Huntington woods Michigan? Drop them in the comments below.
If you’re thinking about moving to Michigan in 1 day or a million, feel free to reach out anytime, I also have a link to the Living in Michigan newsletter below to give you insight on all things Michigan, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss out! Thanks for reading, until next time.
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the pillars of Michigan real estate. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be the best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major in business and marketing, and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.
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