Best Places53505, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53505, 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.
53505 ranks 11,658th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 53505
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.
53505's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53505 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 53505 ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53505
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53505 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $92,448; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 53505's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 53505
53505 runs older 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 53505.
Who works in 53505, and how
Work in 53505 centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 53505
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 53505.
What the weather is like in 53505, month by month
53505 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 53505
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53505
Schools across 53505 average a C, better than 34% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Kennedy ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Harrison ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Clinton ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marshall MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Clinton Junior HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Whitewater MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitewater HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Craig HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Clinton Senior HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53505 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53505 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 53505 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53505
Is 53505 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53505 ranks 11,658th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, what local pay buys, and big-city access, and lowest on walkability and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53505 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $339,869. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $92,448 median income, cost of living beats 81% of zip codes.
Is 53505 safe?
Yes, 53505 is safer than 59% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare 53505 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53505. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53505 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.
53505 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53505: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53505: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53505: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53505: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53505 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.