Neighborhood guideOakland County
Living in Franklin, MI: A Local’s Guide
Franklin is a village of about 3,100 people inside Southfield Township, and it has spent decades working hard to stay small. The downtown looks closer to a 19th-century settlement than a modern suburb, and that's on purpose: it was Michigan's first National Register historic district. People move here for room and quiet. Lots run large, roads are tree-lined, and you can sit on a back porch and not see a neighbor. It sits about 20 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, roughly a 25 to 30 minute drive down the Lodge Freeway when traffic cooperates. The buyers tend to be families who want Birmingham schools without a Birmingham lot size, and longtime Metro Detroiters trading up into more land.
See homes for sale in FranklinWhat Franklin is known for
Three things. The first is the Franklin Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1969, the first such district in the state. The expanded district covers close to 150 buildings, roughly 100 of them counted as historically significant, clustered along Franklin Road. The second is the Franklin Cider Mill, a gristmill from 1837 turned cider mill, which runs every fall and pulls traffic from across the region. (The mill itself sits just over the line in Bloomfield Township, but it carries the Franklin name and everyone treats it as Franklin's.) The third is simply the village's resistance to change. There are no strip malls and no subdivisions of identical houses. That restraint is the whole point.
Quiet. Residential. Spread out. Franklin covers about 2.66 square miles and most of that is homes on big parcels, so it doesn't feel like a place you walk to run errands. You drive to the grocery store, you drive the kids to practice, and you come home to space. The village runs its own historic district commission, which means exterior changes in the district get reviewed, so the look of the place stays consistent year to year. If you want a dense walkable main street with restaurants and nightlife, this isn't it. If you want acreage, mature trees, and a short commute to two of the region's biggest job corridors, it fits.
Franklin, by the numbers
median sale price
$941K
avg days on market
35
price yoy
-2.3%
active listings
21
Prices in Franklin vary widely because the homes do. A maintained historic home in the district and a new custom build on two acres at the village edge are different markets, and the median can swing depending on what's selling that quarter. If you want a real number for a specific home, we'll run a free comp-based valuation off recent local sales. No algorithm, no instant-offer guess: an actual look at what comparable Franklin homes have closed at.
Downtown and getting around
Downtown Franklin
Franklin's downtown is small and concentrated along Franklin Road between roughly 13 Mile and 14 Mile. It's a cluster of vintage buildings, a few shops, and the village green rather than a long commercial strip. The architecture is the draw. Because the district has been protected since 1969, the streetscape has held its character in a way that's genuinely rare for Metro Detroit. Buyers who care about that historic feel will pay for a home inside or near the district; buyers who want a newer build tend to look at the larger parcels on the village edges.
Getting around
Franklin sits between two strong commute routes. M-10, the John C. Lodge Freeway, runs to downtown Detroit and is the standard route in, about 20 miles southeast. Northwestern Highway and Telegraph Road (US-24) border the area and feed the Southfield business district just to the south. That matters for jobs: Southfield holds more than 27 million square feet of office space and a large share of the region's corporate offices, with firms like accounting and advisory giant Plante Moran (headquartered at Southfield Town Center) and automotive supplier Marelli (on Northwestern Highway) based there. SMART bus service runs along Northwestern Highway and Maple Road for riders who need transit. For most residents, though, this is a car-first place.
Things to do in Franklin
Franklin Cider Mill in the fall. Fresh cider, donuts, and a line out the door on October weekends. It's a regional institution, not just a village one.
Franklin Park, the village's main gathering spot, with a playground, ball fields, courts, nature trails, and a sledding hill in winter.
A walk through the historic district along Franklin Road. The collection of preserved 19th-century buildings is the kind of thing you don't find in most newer suburbs.
The Town that Time Forgot events the village runs through the year, which lean into the small-town, preservation-minded identity.
Is Franklin a good place to buy?
For the right buyer, yes. You get land, privacy, mature trees, and access to Birmingham schools, all within a short drive of Detroit and the Southfield job corridor. That's a strong package. The honest tradeoff is twofold. First, this is not a walkable, do-everything-on-foot village; you'll drive for most things. Second, if you buy inside the historic district, exterior changes go through the district commission, which protects the look of the place but limits what you can do on your own timeline. If you want space and don't need a main-street lifestyle, Franklin is one of the better fits in Oakland County.
The homes
Franklin's housing is defined by land. Expect larger lots than you'll find in neighboring Birmingham or Beverly Hills, with a mix of older estate-style homes, mid-century houses, and custom builds set back from the road. Inside and around the historic district you'll find genuinely old architecture that's been maintained under the district's review rules. On the edges of the village, parcels open up and you see more new construction and tear-down rebuilds on big lots. There's no cookie-cutter subdivision stock here. Most homes are one-off, which is part of why values hold.
Schools
Franklin is served by Birmingham Public Schools, the district it joined back in 1945. Birmingham is one of the stronger public districts in the state. Niche ranked it #59 nationally for 2026, and its high schools place near the top of Michigan: Wylie E. Groves High School at #12 and Ernest W. Seaholm High School at #19 among Michigan public high schools (Niche, 2026). Which schools a given Franklin address feeds into depends on the boundary, so confirm the assignment by address before you assume. Birmingham Public Schools publishes an interactive boundary map, and we can pull the assignment for any home you're considering.
Resources
Top questions, answered
The stuff people actually ask us. (No fine print.)
How much are homes in Franklin?
The median sale price in Franklin is currently $941K, with 21 homes active and 15 sold in the last 90 days. Prices swing a lot because the housing stock ranges from historic homes to new custom builds, so a per-home valuation tells you more than the median. We’ll run one for free.
How far is Franklin from downtown Detroit?
About 20 miles, mostly down M-10 (the Lodge Freeway). Figure roughly 25 to 30 minutes outside of rush hour.
What school district is Franklin in?
Birmingham Public Schools. It’s one of the higher-ranked districts in Michigan, but which specific schools an address feeds depends on the boundary, so confirm by address before you commit.
Is Franklin a city or a village?
It’s a village, governed within Southfield Township in Oakland County. It runs its own historic district commission, which is part of why the downtown has kept its character.
Why are Franklin lots so large?
The village has resisted dense development for decades and protects its historic core, so you get bigger parcels and one-off homes instead of subdivision tracts. That’s a big part of the appeal.
ReadyGet started
Thinking about a move in Franklin?
Work with one of our agents who sells Franklin every week. Get a free home value or see what is on the market.