Best Places53560, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53560, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
53560 ranks 8,094th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53560
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.
53560's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53560 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 53560 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,288 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53560
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53560 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $92,830; 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 53560's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 53560
53560 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 53560.
Who works in 53560, and how
Work in 53560 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 53560
53560 has more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 53560 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53560, month by month
53560 sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 53560
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53560
Schools across 53560 average a B−, better than 56% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tower Rock ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- River Valley ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wisconsin Heights MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Sauk Prairie MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- River Valley MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- River Valley HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Wisconsin Heights HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Sauk Prairie HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53560 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53560 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 53560 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53560
Is 53560 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53560 ranks 8,094th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and few empty homes, 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 53560 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,764. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $92,830 median income, cost of living beats 75% of zip codes.
Is 53560 safe?
53560 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $363 per resident a year.
Compare 53560 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53560. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53560 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.
53560 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53560: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53560: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53560: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53560: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53560 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.