Best PlacesBay View, Milwaukee, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bay View, Milwaukee, 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.
Bay View, Milwaukee ranks 1,380th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods 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 Bay View, Milwaukee
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.
Bay View, Milwaukee's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bay View, Milwaukee ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Bay View, Milwaukee ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 77 pleasant days a year, better than only 36% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 36% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 38% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bay View, Milwaukee
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bay View, Milwaukee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,532, 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 Bay View, Milwaukee's effective rate of 1.93%, 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 Bay View, Milwaukee
Bay View, Milwaukee'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 Bay View, Milwaukee.
Who works in Bay View, Milwaukee, and how
Work in Bay View, Milwaukee centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Bay View, Milwaukee
Bay View, Milwaukee has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 84% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bay View, Milwaukee and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bay View, Milwaukee, month by month
Bay View, Milwaukee sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Bay View, Milwaukee
General Mitchell International sits about 3 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bay View, Milwaukee
Schools across Bay View, Milwaukee average a D, better than 12% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Downtown MontessoriA− · 57% proficient
- Fernwood MontessoriB · 46% proficient
- Willow Glen Primary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deer Creek IntermediateC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Saint Francis HighD− · 12% proficient
- South Division HighF · 10% proficient
- Bay View HighF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bay View, Milwaukee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bay View, Milwaukee 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 Bay View, Milwaukee against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Bay View, Milwaukee
Is Bay View, Milwaukee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bay View, Milwaukee ranks 1,380th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, transit, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bay View, Milwaukee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,271. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $89,532 median income, cost of living beats 72% of neighborhoods.
Is Bay View, Milwaukee safe?
Yes, Bay View, Milwaukee is safer than 68% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
Compare Bay View, Milwaukee with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bay View, Milwaukee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bay View, Milwaukee 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.
Bay View, Milwaukee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bay View, Milwaukee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bay View, Milwaukee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bay View, Milwaukee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bay View, Milwaukee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bay View, Milwaukee 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.