What Are the Warmest Cities in Michigan?
In this article I’m going to share with you my ranking of the warmest places in Michigan.
I created my list by researching data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate data providers.
Below I’m listing the top 10 warmest places in Michigan that have the highest average yearly temperatures. Later in the article I share a table with 50 most populous cities in Michigan.
Top 10 Warmest Cities in Michigan
Here are the top 10 warmest places in Michigan ranked by their daily mean temperature. The difference between the warmest and coldest cities of Michigan is up to 8 °F but the difference between these top ten cities is much smaller.
For the top five cities I also give average winter and summer temperatures.
1. Niles – daily mean temperature of 50.85 °F
According to weather data collected by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, Niles is the warmest city in Michigan. Located in Southwest Michigan, close to the border with Indiana, Niles has some of the highest average summer temperatures in the state. The average high temperature is 79-85 °F while temperatures at night drop to 61-65 °F.
In the winter, Niles isn’t the warmest place in the state. The average temperature during the day is 29-32 °F, much lower than 32-37 °F in Detroit. Winter nights reach average temperatures of 19-22 °F. If you want as little cold weather as possible, other cities have higher winter temperatures.
Winter temperatures: highs of 29-32 °F, lows of 19-22 °F
Summer temperatures: highs of 79-85 °F, lows of 61-65 °F
2. Detroit – daily mean temperature of 50.55 °F
Detroit, the largest city in Michigan, has milder winters than Niles. The average high temperature between December and February is 32-37 °F, with nighttime temperatures of 19-25 °F. Summer temperatures are between 80-84 °F during the day and 60-64 °F at night. Detroit has 2,436 sunshine hours a year. Winters are much gloomier, with sun shining only about 30-40% of the time in December and January compared to the average percentages of 66-69% in the summer months.
Winter temperatures: highs of 32-37 °F, lows of 19-25 °F
Summer temperatures: highs of 80-84 °F, lows of 60-64 °F
3. Allendale – daily mean temperature of 50.5 °F
Allendale is a charter township that’s a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. It has the warmest winters out of all Michigan cities. Temperatures during the day reach 34-38 °F and drop at night to 21-25 °F. It also offers warm weather in the summer, with temperatures between 79-83 °F.
Winter temperatures: highs of 34-38 °F, lows of 21-25 °F
Summer temperatures: highs of 79-83 °F, lows of 58-62 °F
4. Benton Harbor – daily mean temperature of 50.15 °F
Benton Harbor is a small city of 9,100 people, located on Lake Michigan. Due to the large body of water, Benton Harbor has the highest snowfall out of all cities in this ranking. It gets 78 inches of snow, falling on average 31 days a year. The lake also moderates weather in the coldest months, giving it average highs of 33-38 °F.
Winter temperatures: highs of 33-38 °F, lows of 20-25 °F
Summer temperatures: highs of 80-83 °F, lows of 57-62 °F
5. Port Huron – daily mean temperature of 49.55 °F
Port Huron is a city of 29,000 people, located in the Thumb area of Michigan, on the border with Canada. It has the coolest summers out of all Michigan cities in this ranking, with the average high temperature of 76-81 °F between June and August.
Winter temperatures: highs of 31-36 °F, lows of 20-26 °F
Summer temperatures: highs of 76-81 °F, lows of 59-65 °F
6. Monroe – daily mean temperature of 49.5 °F
Monroe, a city of 20,000 people, is located 39 miles southwest of Detroit, on Lake Erie in the southeast corner of the state. It gets slightly cooler winter days and nights that are up to 3 degrees colder than in Detroit. It’s the least snowy city out of all major cities in Michigan.
7. Dearborn – daily mean temperature of 49.45 °F
Dearborn is the seventh largest city of Michigan. It belongs to the Detroit metropolitan area as it’s situated just 9 miles west of downtown Detroit. Because of proximity, both cities have a very similar climate. The only major difference is that Dearborn gets nights that are on average 2 degrees colder year round than in Detroit.
8. Kalamazoo – daily mean temperature of 49.45 °F
Kalamazoo is a city of 74,000 people, located in southern Michigan. The average high temperature in Kalamazoo in the winter is 32-36 °F, while the average low temperature is 18-24 °F. In the summer, the city enjoys similar warm weather to other cities in this ranking: between 80-83 °F during the day and a pleasant 58-62 °F at night.
9. Adrian – daily mean temperature of 49.4 °F
Adrian is a city of 21,000 people. It’s located about 13 miles from the border with Ohio. While Adrian has the same daily mean temperature as Warren and Sterling Heights that rank tenth, it has much warmer days with some of the mildest winter days (33-38 °F) and some of the hottest summer days (81-85 °F). Nights are the coldest out of all Michigan cities featured in this ranking, with the average temperature on a winter night dropping to 17-23 °F and 57-60 °F on a summer night.
10. Warren and Sterling Heights – daily mean temperature of 49.4 °F
The tenth place in this ranking is shared between Warren and Sterling Heights, two suburban cities of Detroit that have the same climate. They get average high temperatures between 33-37 °F during the winter and 80-84 °F during the summer. The next city in the ranking would be Muskegon, with the same daily mean temperature as Warren and Sterling Heights. It has a much lower average high temperature of 57.9 °F (compared to 59.1 °F in Warren and Sterling Heights and 60.2 °F in Adrian) so I decided not to feature it in this ranking as it has noticeably cooler summers.
Video Summary of the Warmest Michigan Cities
50 Biggest Cities in Michigan Ranked by Daily Mean Temperature
I created the table below by researching data for the most populous municipalities in Michigan. When I couldn’t find data for a given city, I moved on to another. While the list includes 50 cities, some of the bigger cities may be missing because there was no data for them. Please check the closest geographically city then.
| City | Average high temperature (°F) | Average low temperature (°F) | Daily mean temperature (°F) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niles | 59.4 | 42.3 | 50.85 |
| Detroit | 59.1 | 42 | 50.55 |
| Allendale | 60 | 41 | 50.5 |
| Benton Harbor | 59.6 | 40.7 | 50.15 |
| Port Huron | 56.8 | 42.3 | 49.55 |
| Monroe | 58 | 41 | 49.5 |
| Dearborn | 58.9 | 40 | 49.45 |
| Kalamazoo | 58.7 | 40.2 | 49.45 |
| Adrian | 60.2 | 38.6 | 49.4 |
| Warren | 59.1 | 39.7 | 49.4 |
| Sterling Heights | 59.1 | 39.7 | 49.4 |
| Muskegon | 57.9 | 40.9 | 49.4 |
| Grand Rapids | 58.2 | 40.5 | 49.35 |
| East Lansing | 58.8 | 39.7 | 49.25 |
| Holland | 57.9 | 40.6 | 49.25 |
| Battle Creek | 59.3 | 39.1 | 49.2 |
| Pontiac | 58 | 40.2 | 49.1 |
| Jackson | 58.3 | 39.5 | 48.9 |
| Ann Arbor | 59.3 | 38.4 | 48.85 |
| Mount Clemens | 57.6 | 39.7 | 48.65 |
| Lansing | 57.9 | 39.2 | 48.55 |
| Troy | 58 | 39 | 48.5 |
| Taylor | 56 | 41 | 48.5 |
| Grosse Pointe Farms | 57.3 | 39.7 | 48.5 |
| Grand Haven | 56.7 | 39.9 | 48.3 |
| Coldwater | 57.8 | 38.4 | 48.1 |
| Saginaw | 56.9 | 39.1 | 48 |
| Saginaw | 56.9 | 39.1 | 48 |
| Bay City | 56.9 | 39.1 | 48 |
| Midland | 56.7 | 39.2 | 47.95 |
| Mount Pleasant | 57.5 | 38.1 | 47.8 |
| Flint | 57.2 | 38.1 | 47.65 |
| Owosso | 57.4 | 37.9 | 47.65 |
| Farmington | 57.6 | 37.7 | 47.65 |
| Wyoming | 57 | 38 | 47.5 |
| Howell | 58.5 | 36.5 | 47.5 |
| Charlotte | 57 | 37.7 | 47.35 |
| Burton | 58.3 | 36.1 | 47.2 |
| Ionia | 56.2 | 38 | 47.1 |
| Alma | 56.8 | 37.3 | 47.05 |
| Kentwood | 56 | 38 | 47 |
| Traverse City | 56 | 37.8 | 46.9 |
| Portage | 55.9 | 37.1 | 46.5 |
| White Lake | 55.4 | 35.8 | 45.6 |
| Big Rapids | 55.7 | 34.5 | 45.1 |
| Cadillac | 54.2 | 34.8 | 44.5 |
| Alpena | 52.2 | 36.2 | 44.2 |
| Marquette | 50 | 35.2 | 42.6 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 51.4 | 33.3 | 42.35 |
| Escanaba | 51.3 | 33 | 42.15 |
Check the Warmest Cities in Neighboring States
If you’re interested in learning about the warmest cities in states neighboring Michigan, check out the following articles:
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Illinois?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Indiana?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Minnesota?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Ohio?
- What Are the Warmest Cities in Wisconsin?
Also check my article on the warmest cities in the US in every state.