Best Places53122, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53122, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
53122 ranks 586th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53122
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
53122's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53122 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Household income$135,853 median, better than 94% of zip codes
Where 53122 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 42% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53122
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53122 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $135,853; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 53122's effective rate of 1.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53122
53122 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 53122.
Who works in 53122, and how
Work in 53122 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 53122
53122 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53122 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53122, month by month
53122 sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 55° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 53122
General Mitchell International sits about 12 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 53122
Schools across 53122 average an A, better than 89% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tonawanda ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Dixon ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pilgrim Park MiddleA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Brookfield East HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53122 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53122 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 53122 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53122
Is 53122 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53122 ranks 586th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53122 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $525,886. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $135,853 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 53122 safe?
53122 is safer than 42% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare 53122 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53122. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53122 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
53122 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53122: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53122: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53122: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53122: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53122 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.