Best Places53545, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53545, 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.
53545 ranks 9,937th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53545
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.
53545's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53545 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 89% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 53545 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- School gradeC, better than only 38% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53545
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53545 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,173, 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 53545's effective rate of 1.55%, 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 53545
53545's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 53545.
Who works in 53545, and how
Work in 53545 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 53545
53545 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53545 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53545, month by month
53545 sees roughly 85 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 53545
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 59 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53545
Schools across 53545 average a C, better than 38% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Roosevelt ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Monroe ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Theodore Robinson Intermediate SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Edgerton MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Milton MiddleB · 46% proficient
- J C Mckenna MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Evansville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Milton HighC− · 26% proficient
- Craig HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53545 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53545 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 53545 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 53545 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 53545
Is 53545 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53545 ranks 9,937th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, fast internet, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53545 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,624. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $74,173 median income, cost of living beats 60% of zip codes.
Is 53545 safe?
53545 is safer than 50% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 53545?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 18. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of zip codes.
Is 53545 good for families?
Schools beat 38% of zip codes, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare 53545 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53545. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53545 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.
53545 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53545: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53545: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53545: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53545: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53545 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.