Best PlacesBrown County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brown County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Brown County ranks 206th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $84,971, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Brown County
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.
The best areas in Brown County
The parts of Brown County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
DePere
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and it is quieter.
Howard, Hobart & Pulaski
Incomes run higher and more residents vote.
Bellevue & Denmark
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Wrightstown
Tree cover is thinner and fewer households have young kids.
Ashwaubenon
Advertised internet is faster.
Allouez
Streets are more walkable and homes cost less.
Suamico
Health care is harder to reach and more homes sit empty.
New Franken
Schools score higher, though commutes are longer.
Green Bay
Scores close to New Franken, except that prices have run up more here.
Brown County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Brown County's strengths and weaknesses
Brown County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cheap car insurance is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Few empty homes and low disaster risk follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, childcare costs, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Brown County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
Where Brown County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brown County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brown County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,971, 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 Brown County's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 Brown County
Brown County'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 Brown County.
Who works in Brown County, and how
Work in Brown County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Brown County
Brown County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brown County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brown County growing, and who is moving in?
Brown County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Appleton, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brown County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brown County, month by month
Brown County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Brown County
The nearest airport, Green Bay/Austin Straubel International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brown County
Schools across Brown County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Leonardo Da Vinci School For Gifted LearnersA+ · 75% proficient
- Susie C Altmayer ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Suamico ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Luxemburg-casco MiddleA · 60% proficient
- De Pere MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Foxview IntermediateA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Wrightstown HighB · 48% proficient
- West De Pere HighB− · 45% proficient
- Pulaski HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brown County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brown County 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 Brown County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Brown County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Brown County
Is Brown County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brown County ranks 206th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brown County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,778. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $84,971 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Brown County safe?
Yes, Brown County is safer than 83% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brown County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 14. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Brown County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are DePere, Howard, Hobart & Pulaski, and Bellevue & Denmark. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Brown County good for families?
Schools beat 65% of counties, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Is Brown County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Brown County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brown County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brown County 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.
Brown County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brown County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brown County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brown County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brown County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brown County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.