Best PlacesBluff Acres, Madison, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bluff Acres, Madison, 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.
Bluff Acres, Madison ranks 2,753rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bluff Acres, Madison
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.
Bluff Acres, Madison's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bluff Acres, Madison ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
Where Bluff Acres, Madison ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 26% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bluff Acres, Madison
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bluff Acres, Madison home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $73,777; 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 Bluff Acres, Madison's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 Bluff Acres, Madison
Bluff Acres, Madison runs younger 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 Bluff Acres, Madison.
Who works in Bluff Acres, Madison, and how
Work in Bluff Acres, Madison centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Bluff Acres, Madison
Bluff Acres, Madison has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 91% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bluff Acres, Madison and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bluff Acres, Madison, month by month
Bluff Acres, Madison 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 Bluff Acres, Madison
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 2 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 Bluff Acres, Madison
Schools across Bluff Acres, Madison average a D+, better than 26% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Sherman MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- East HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bluff Acres, Madison school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bluff Acres, Madison 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 Bluff Acres, Madison against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Bluff Acres, Madison
Is Bluff Acres, Madison a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bluff Acres, Madison ranks 2,753rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, cheap car insurance, and a stable housing market, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bluff Acres, Madison expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,545. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $73,777 median income, cost of living beats 54% of neighborhoods.
Is Bluff Acres, Madison safe?
Bluff Acres, Madison is safer than 53% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
Compare Bluff Acres, Madison with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bluff Acres, Madison. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bluff Acres, Madison 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.
Bluff Acres, Madison detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bluff Acres, Madison: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bluff Acres, Madison: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bluff Acres, Madison: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bluff Acres, Madison: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bluff Acres, Madison 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.