Best PlacesBlack Earth, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black Earth, 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.
Black Earth ranks 10,734th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Black Earth
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.
Black Earth's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black Earth ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Black Earth ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,301 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 32% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black Earth
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black Earth home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,631, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Black Earth's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 Black Earth
Black Earth runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black Earth.
Who works in Black Earth, and how
Work in Black Earth centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Black Earth
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Black Earth.
What the weather is like in Black Earth, month by month
Black Earth sees roughly 84 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 Black Earth
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black Earth
Schools across Black Earth average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Park ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glacier Creek MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Mount Horeb MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Wisconsin Heights MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Middleton HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Wisconsin Heights HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Mount Horeb HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black Earth school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black Earth 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 Black Earth against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black Earth
Is Black Earth a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black Earth ranks 10,734th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, population health, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Black Earth expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $357,169. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $86,631 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Black Earth safe?
Yes, Black Earth is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
Compare Black Earth with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black Earth. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black Earth 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.
Black Earth detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black Earth: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black Earth: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black Earth: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black Earth: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black Earth 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.