Best Places53188, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53188, 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.
53188 ranks 4,524th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53188
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.
53188's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53188 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 53188 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- School gradeC, better than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53188
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53188 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,397, 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 53188's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 53188
53188'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 53188.
Who works in 53188, and how
Work in 53188 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 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 53188
53188 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53188 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53188, month by month
53188 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 53188
General Mitchell International sits about 19 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 53188
Schools across 53188 average a C, better than 35% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wales ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Meadowbrook ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Summit View ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kettle Moraine MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Asa Clark MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Les Paul MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Kettle Moraine HighB+ · 57% 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 53188 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53188 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 53188 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53188 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 64% of zip codes and health care access beats 89%.
Common questions about living in 53188
Is 53188 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53188 ranks 4,524th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53188 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $348,891. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $102,397 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 53188 safe?
53188 is safer than 50% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53188?
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 53188 good for families?
Schools beat 35% of zip codes, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53188 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53188. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53188 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.
53188 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53188: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53188: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53188: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53188: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53188 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.