America’s Best Beach Towns are Right Here in Michigan- But, We Already Knew That

A national look at America's best beach towns includes 5 from Michigan.

You can have your salt water and rocky beaches, we'll take the sand and shores of Lake Michigan any and every day of the week. Wallethub has scored the best beach towns in the country by oceans and lakes and the Great Lakes ranked highest. Cities from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana were also on the list and five Michigan towns were in the top 44.

Ratings were based on six metrics: weather, economy, education and health, safety, affordability and quality of life. Our cities had their best numbers based on the weather but suffered the most in the economy listings. Here's how the 5 Michigan best beach towns in America ranked in each category:

Overall

• Traverse City 1
• Holland 6
• Alpena 7
• Muskegon 35
• Port Huron 37

Weather

• Alpena 1
• Port Huron 7
• Muskegon 8
• Holland 12
• Traverse City 13

Economy

• Traverse City 6
• Holland 14
• Alpena 30
• Port Huron 35
• Muskegon 41

Education and Health

• Alpena 23
• Holland 24
• Traverse City 26
• Muskegon 27
• Port Huron 29

Safety

• Alpena 7
• Traverse City 10
• Holland 24
• Port Huron 39
• Muskegon 40

Affordability

• Alpena 8
• Traverse City 11
• Holland 14
• Port Huron 30
• Muskegon 39

Quality of Life

• Traverse City 1
• Holland 4
• Alpena 12
• Muskegon 15
• Port Huron 35

Life is good in the Great Lakes!

Source: WalletHub

Bonus Video: Big Waves at Holland State Park