Best Places53517, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53517, 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.
53517 ranks 5,435th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53517
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.
53517's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53517 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 53517 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,235 a month, better than only 19% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53517
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53517 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,599, 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 53517's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 53517
53517 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 53517.
Who works in 53517, and how
Work in 53517 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 53517
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 53517.
What the weather is like in 53517, month by month
53517 sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 53517
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53517
Schools across 53517 average a B, better than 68% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Barneveld ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- River Valley ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Horeb MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Wisconsin Heights MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- River Valley MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- River Valley HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Wisconsin Heights HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Mount Horeb HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53517 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53517 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 53517 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53517
Is 53517 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53517 ranks 5,435th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53517 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $457,153. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $96,599 median income, cost of living beats 75% of zip codes.
Is 53517 safe?
Yes, 53517 is safer than 59% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
Compare 53517 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53517. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53517 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.
53517 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53517: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53517: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53517: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53517: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53517 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.