Best Places53202, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53202, 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.
53202 ranks 4,895th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 53202
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.
53202's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53202 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 53202 ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53202
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53202 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,774, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 53202's effective rate of 2.10%, 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 53202
53202 runs younger than the country, 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 53202.
Who works in 53202, and how
Work in 53202 centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in 53202
53202 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53202 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53202, month by month
53202 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 53202
General Mitchell International sits about 7 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 53202
Schools across 53202 average a D−, better than 2% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Maryland MontessoriB+ · 52% proficient
- Vieau ElementaryD− · 12% proficient
- Cass Street ElementaryF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln MiddleF · 5% proficient
- Roosevelt MiddleF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Riverside HighF · 11% proficient
- North Division HighF · 10% proficient
- Milwaukee High School Of The ArtsF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53202 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53202 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 53202 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53202 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 53202
Is 53202 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53202 ranks 4,895th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, and lowest on the schools and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53202 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $364,793. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $75,774 median income, cost of living beats 60% of zip codes.
Is 53202 safe?
53202 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $530 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53202?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 18. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of zip codes.
Is 53202 good for families?
Schools beat 2% of zip codes, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53202 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53202. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53202 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.
53202 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53202: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53202: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53202: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53202: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53202 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.