Best Places53948, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53948, 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.
53948 ranks 22,070th 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 53948
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.
53948's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53948 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 69% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 66% of zip codes
- Short commute24.0 minutes each way, better than 64% of zip codes
Where 53948 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53948
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53948 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,292, 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 53948'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 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 53948
53948 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 53948.
Who works in 53948, and how
Work in 53948 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 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 53948
53948 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 92% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53948 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53948, month by month
53948 sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 33° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 53948
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 58 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 53948
Schools across 53948 average a C−, better than 27% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lyndon Station ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Grayside ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Spring Hill ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Webb MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Wonewoc-center Junior HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Olson MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Reedsburg Area HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Wisconsin Dells HighD · 20% proficient
- New Lisbon Junior High/highD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53948 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53948 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 53948 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53948
Is 53948 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53948 ranks 22,070th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low taxes, and walkability, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 53948 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,059. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $66,292 median income, cost of living beats 36% of zip codes.
Is 53948 safe?
53948 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $331 per resident a year.
Compare 53948 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53948. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53948 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.
53948 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53948: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53948: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53948: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53948: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53948 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.