Best Places53222, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53222, 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.
53222 ranks 4,808th 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 53222
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.
53222's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53222 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 53222 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 21% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53222
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53222 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,532, 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 53222's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53222
53222 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 53222.
Who works in 53222, and how
Work in 53222 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 53222
53222 has more parkland per resident than 99% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 53222 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53222, month by month
53222 sees roughly 97 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 53222
General Mitchell International sits about 11 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 53222
Schools across 53222 average a C−, better than 21% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Roosevelt ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Mckinley ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Wauwatosa Montessori SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Longfellow MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Whitman MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- East HighB+ · 54% proficient
- West HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Milwaukee School Of LanguagesD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53222 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53222 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 53222 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53222 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of zip codes and health care access beats 65%.
Common questions about living in 53222
Is 53222 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53222 ranks 4,808th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, low disaster risk, and walkability, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53222 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,168. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $82,532 median income, cost of living beats 68% of zip codes.
Is 53222 safe?
53222 is safer than 41% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $361 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53222?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 18. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of zip codes.
Is 53222 good for families?
Schools beat 21% of zip codes, crime safety beats 41%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53222 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53222. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53222 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.
53222 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53222: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53222: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53222: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53222: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53222 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.