Best Places53211, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53211, 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.
53211 ranks 1,741st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53211
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.
53211's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53211 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 53211 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 39% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53211
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53211 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,144, 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 53211's effective rate of 2.04%, 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 53211
53211 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 53211.
Who works in 53211, and how
Work in 53211 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in 53211
53211 has more parkland per resident than 91% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 74% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53211 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53211, month by month
53211 sees roughly 92 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 53211
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 53211
Schools across 53211 average a C+, better than 48% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cumberland ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Lake Bluff ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Atwater ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Whitefish Bay MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Shorewood IntermediateB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitefish Bay HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Shorewood HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Riverside HighF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53211 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53211 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 53211 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53211 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of zip codes and health care access beats 73%.
Common questions about living in 53211
Is 53211 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53211 ranks 1,741st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, an educated workforce, and walkability, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53211 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $450,672. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $91,144 median income, cost of living beats 75% of zip codes.
Is 53211 safe?
53211 is safer than 40% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53211?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 18. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of zip codes.
Is 53211 good for families?
Schools beat 48% of zip codes, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53211 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53211. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53211 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.
53211 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53211: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53211: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53211: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53211: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53211 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.