Best Places53964, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 53964, 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.
53964 ranks 18,908th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 53964
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.
53964's strengths and weaknesses
Where 53964 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 77% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 120 pleasant days a year, better than 76% of zip codes
Where 53964 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 53964
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 53964 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,582, 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 53964's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 53964
53964 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 53964.
Who works in 53964, and how
Work in 53964 centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 53964
53964 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 53964 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 53964, month by month
53964 sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 53964
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around 53964
Schools across 53964 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Coloma ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Oxford ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Westfield ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wayne Bartels MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Westfield Area MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Adams-friendship MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Westfield Area HighC− · 30% proficient
- Portage HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Adams-friendship HighD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 53964 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
53964 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 53964 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 53964
Is 53964 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 53964 ranks 18,908th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on empty homes 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 53964 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,421. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $70,582 median income, cost of living beats 39% of zip codes.
Is 53964 safe?
Yes, 53964 is safer than 74% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare 53964 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 53964. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 53964 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.
53964 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 53964: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 53964: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 53964: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 53964: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
53964 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.