Best Places53716, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53716, 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.
53716 ranks 6,425th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53716
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.
53716's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53716 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 53716 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53716
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53716 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $98,427; 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 53716's effective rate of 1.71%, 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 53716
53716 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 53716.
Who works in 53716, and how
Work in 53716 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 53716
53716 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53716 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53716, month by month
53716 sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 53716
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53716
Schools across 53716 average a D+, better than 18% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Waubesa IntermediateB · 46% proficient
- Winnequah SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Elvehjem ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Mound MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- O'keeffe MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Whitehorse MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Monona Grove HighB− · 43% proficient
- Mcfarland HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Lafollette HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53716 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53716 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 53716 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53716
Is 53716 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53716 ranks 6,425th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, civic engagement, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53716 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,054. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $98,427 median income, cost of living beats 78% of zip codes.
Is 53716 safe?
53716 is safer than 25% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $431 per resident a year.
Compare 53716 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53716. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53716 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.
53716 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53716: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53716: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53716: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53716: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53716 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.