Best cities for sports in Michigan

BookrGo Best Sport Cities ranking: we rank the cities of Michigan by their 0-10 sports score, which combines density of centers per resident, variety of sports, listing quality and real activity. To keep the comparison fair, we measure every city's offering with the same sources of national coverage. An honest way to see where it's easiest (and hardest) to find somewhere to play.

391 scorable cities in Michigan.

#	City	Score /10	Centers
1	Traverse City	9.0	155
2	Holland	8.9	136
3	Big Rapids	8.8	48
4	Harbor Springs	8.8	36
5	Byron Center	8.8	33
6	Cheboygan	8.7	32
7	Wixom	8.6	73
8	Fenton	8.6	67
9	Midland	8.5	141
10	Marquette	8.4	86
11	Monroe	8.3	79
12	Grand Haven	8.3	70
13	Grandville	8.3	60
14	Livonia	8.2	227
15	Saline	8.2	54
16	Charlevoix	8.2	37
17	Paw Paw	8.2	24
18	Kalamazoo	8.1	233
19	Portage	8.1	112
20	Petoskey	8.1	70
21	Lake Orion	8.1	62
22	Ann Arbor	8.0	460
23	Novi	8.0	181
24	Battle Creek	8.0	113
25	Jackson	8.0	103
26	Cadillac	8.0	36
27	Flushing	8.0	36
28	Farmington Hills	7.9	130
29	Howell	7.9	89
30	St. Clair Shores	7.9	67
31	Escanaba	7.9	46
32	Allegan	7.9	20
33	Munising	7.9	17
34	Muskegon	7.8	111
35	Northville	7.8	85
36	Oxford	7.8	64
37	Fraser	7.8	50
38	Forest Hills	7.8	37
39	South Haven	7.8	34
40	Mason	7.8	30
41	Sturgis	7.8	25
42	Rochester Hills	7.7	157
43	Wyoming	7.7	105
44	Plymouth	7.7	92
45	Port Huron	7.7	72
46	Sault Ste. Marie	7.7	44
47	Lapeer	7.7	38
48	Rogers City	7.7	15
49	Stevensville	7.7	15
50	Sterling Heights	7.6	162
51	Flint	7.6	108
52	Brighton	7.6	99
53	Bloomfield Hills	7.6	87
54	Niles	7.6	47
55	Gaylord	7.6	47
56	Alpena	7.6	44
57	Manistee	7.6	34
58	Caledonia	7.6	30
59	Iron Mountain	7.6	23
60	Hartland	7.6	17
61	Troy	7.5	224
62	Norton Shores	7.5	50
63	Davison	7.5	43
64	Belleville	7.5	34
65	Lowell	7.5	28
66	Fremont	7.5	28
67	Williamston	7.5	26
68	Grand Ledge	7.5	25
69	Saugatuck	7.5	23
70	Spring Lake	7.5	20
71	Plainwell	7.5	18
72	Grayling	7.5	16
73	Saginaw	7.4	109
74	Rochester	7.4	90
75	Okemos	7.4	72
76	Wyandotte	7.4	64
77	Rockford	7.4	49
78	Holly	7.4	24
79	Richmond	7.4	23
80	Caro	7.4	23
81	Bad Axe	7.4	21
82	Gladwin	7.4	18
83	Southfield	7.3	131
84	Ludington	7.3	57
85	Houghton	7.3	50
86	Milford	7.3	45
87	Coldwater	7.3	41
88	Chelsea	7.3	33
89	Hastings	7.3	30
90	Boyne City	7.3	28
91	Grosse Pointe Woods	7.3	27
92	Whitehall	7.3	17
93	Newaygo	7.3	14
94	Grand Rapids	7.2	585
95	Lansing	7.2	246
96	Ypsilanti	7.2	103
97	Grand Blanc	7.2	69
98	Mackinaw City	7.2	17
99	East Lansing	7.1	148
100	Westland	7.1	106

How do we calculate the score?

Variety (25%) — how many different sports the city covers.
Quality (20%) — richness of each center's information.
Activity (20%) — real user interest over the last 30 days.
Scale (15%) — number of centers in the city.
Density (10%) — centers per resident (dampened).
Courts (10%) — total capacity: number of courts.

Each section is measured as a percentile against the other cities in the United States and combined into the final score, on a 0-10 scale. Variety and density are measured with a uniform instrument (only sources with homogeneous national coverage) so that no city is favored by having a more complete open catalog. We only score cities with population data and a presence in those sources.