Best Places53186, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53186, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
53186 ranks 7,426th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53186
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.
53186's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53186 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 53186 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53186
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53186 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,685; 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 53186's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 53186
53186's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 53186.
Who works in 53186, and how
Work in 53186 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 53186
53186 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 91% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53186 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53186, month by month
53186 sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 80° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 53186
General Mitchell International sits about 16 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 53186
Schools across 53186 average a C−, better than 29% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- White Rock SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Waukesha Stem AcademyA− · 58% proficient
- Hillcrest ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Asa Clark MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Les Paul MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Horning MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Waukesha Engineering Preparatory AcademyB+ · 53% proficient
- Pewaukee HighB+ · 52% proficient
- West HighC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53186 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53186 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 53186 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53186 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 64% of zip codes and health care access beats 76%.
Common questions about living in 53186
Is 53186 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53186 ranks 7,426th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53186 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,913. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $78,685 median income, cost of living beats 59% of zip codes.
Is 53186 safe?
53186 is safer than 45% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $347 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53186?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 16. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of zip codes.
Is 53186 good for families?
Schools beat 29% of zip codes, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53186 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53186. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53186 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.
53186 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53186: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53186: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53186: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53186: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53186 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.