Best Places53526, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53526, 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.
53526 ranks 8,227th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 53526
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.
53526's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53526 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 53526 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53526
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53526 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,915, 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 53526's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53526
53526 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 53526.
Who works in 53526, and how
Work in 53526 centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 53526
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 53526.
What the weather is like in 53526, month by month
53526 sees roughly 128 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 53526
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53526
Schools across 53526 average a C+, better than 42% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Iowa-grant Elementary/middleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa-grant HighD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53526 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53526 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 53526 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53526
Is 53526 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53526 ranks 8,227th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, a strong job market, and walkability, and lowest on cell coverage and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53526 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,450. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $85,915 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 53526 safe?
Yes, 53526 is safer than 74% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare 53526 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53526. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53526 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.
53526 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53526: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53526: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53526: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53526: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53526 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.