Best Places53206, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53206, 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.
53206 ranks 31,810th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53206
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.
53206's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53206 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 53206 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$33,429 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53206
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53206 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $33,429, 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 53206's effective rate of 1.73%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53206
53206 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 53206.
Who works in 53206, and how
Work in 53206 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in 53206
53206 has more parkland per resident than 72% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 53206 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53206, month by month
53206 sees roughly 96 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 53206
General Mitchell International sits about 9 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 53206
Schools across 53206 average a D−, better than 2% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Milwaukee College Preparatory School: Lola Rowe North CampusD · 17% proficient
- Hopkins Lloyd Community SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Keefe Avenue ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Andrew S Douglas MiddleF · 5% proficient
- Roosevelt MiddleF · 5% proficient
- King International Baccalaureate MiddleF · 3% proficient
Top high schools
- King InternationalC · 32% proficient
- North Division HighF · 10% proficient
- Whs Information TechnologyF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53206 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53206 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 53206 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53206 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 53206
Is 53206 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53206 ranks 31,810th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on crime and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53206 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,070. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $33,429 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 53206 safe?
53206 is safer than 0% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,872 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53206?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 18. That works out to about 96 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of zip codes.
Is 53206 good for families?
Schools beat 2% of zip codes, crime safety beats 0%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53206 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53206. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53206 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.
53206 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53206: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53206: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53206: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53206: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53206 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.