Best Places53142, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53142, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
53142 ranks 6,258th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53142
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.
53142's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53142 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 53142 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53142
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53142 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,264, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 53142's effective rate of 1.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53142
53142's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 53142.
Who works in 53142, and how
Work in 53142 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 53142
53142 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 67% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53142 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53142, month by month
53142 sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 53142
General Mitchell International sits about 26 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 53142
Schools across 53142 average a C, better than 37% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Paris ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Jeffery ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Bristol ElementaryB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mahone MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Lance MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Lincoln MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Indian Trail High School And AcademyC− · 28% proficient
- Tremper HighD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53142 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53142 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 53142 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53142 suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of zip codes and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of zip codes and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in 53142
Is 53142 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53142 ranks 6,258th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, 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 53142 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,344. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $96,264 median income, cost of living beats 77% of zip codes.
Is 53142 safe?
Yes, 53142 is safer than 61% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53142?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 19. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of zip codes.
Is 53142 good for families?
Schools beat 37% of zip codes, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53142 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53142. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53142 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.
53142 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53142: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53142: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53142: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53142: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53142 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.