Best PlacesBoulder Junction, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Boulder Junction, 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.
Boulder Junction ranks 16,483rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Boulder Junction
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.
Boulder Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Boulder Junction ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
Where Boulder Junction ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Boulder Junction
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Boulder Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,483, 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 Boulder Junction's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Boulder Junction
Boulder Junction 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 Boulder Junction.
Who works in Boulder Junction, and how
Work in Boulder Junction centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Boulder Junction
Boulder Junction has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Boulder Junction and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Boulder Junction, month by month
Boulder Junction sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 14° | 7° |
| April | 49° | 37° | 28° |
| July | 79° | 66° | 54° |
| October | 53° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Boulder Junction
The nearest airport, Rhinelander/Oneida County, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 193 miles away.
The best schools in and around Boulder Junction
Schools across Boulder Junction average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Lakeland ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Arbor Vitae-woodruff ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Northland Pines Elementary-st GermainB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northland Pines MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeland HighC · 33% proficient
- Northland Pines HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Boulder Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Boulder Junction 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 Boulder Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Boulder Junction
Is Boulder Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Boulder Junction ranks 16,483rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Boulder Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,739. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $74,483 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Boulder Junction safe?
Yes, Boulder Junction is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Boulder Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Boulder Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Boulder Junction 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.
Boulder Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Boulder Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Boulder Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Boulder Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Boulder Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Boulder Junction 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.