Best Places53215, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53215, 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.
53215 ranks 23,572nd 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 53215
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.
53215's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53215 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 53215 ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53215
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53215 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,005, 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 53215's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53215
53215 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 53215.
Who works in 53215, and how
Work in 53215 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 53215
53215 has more parkland per resident than 91% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 53215 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53215, month by month
53215 sees roughly 78 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 53215
General Mitchell International sits about 4 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 53215
Schools across 53215 average an F, better than 1% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Milwaukee Parkside SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Greenfield BilingualD · 17% proficient
- Stellar Collegiate Charter SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Milwaukee IntermediateD− · 17% proficient
- Audubon Technology And Communication MiddleF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Lad Lake Synergy SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Escuela VerdeD+ · 25% proficient
- Veritas HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53215 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53215 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 53215 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53215 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 53215
Is 53215 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53215 ranks 23,572nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the schools and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53215 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,015. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $55,005 median income, cost of living beats 14% of zip codes.
Is 53215 safe?
53215 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $545 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53215?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 18. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 41% of zip codes.
Is 53215 good for families?
Schools beat 1% of zip codes, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53215 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53215. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53215 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.
53215 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53215: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53215: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53215: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53215: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53215 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.