Best PlacesCalumet County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Calumet 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.
Calumet County ranks 104th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Calumet 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 Calumet County
The parts of Calumet 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.
Appleton & Menasha
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Sherwood
It is quieter, though advertised internet is slower.
Chilton
Fewer adults hold degrees and biking is worse.
Brillion
Streets are more walkable and homes cost less.
New Holstein
Fewer households have young kids and commutes are longer.
Scores across Calumet County run from about the 27th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Calumet County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calumet County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of counties
Where Calumet County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 23% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Calumet County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calumet County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,203, 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 Calumet County'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 Calumet County
Calumet County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calumet County.
Who works in Calumet County, and how
Work in Calumet County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Calumet County
Calumet County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 74% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Calumet County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Calumet County growing, and who is moving in?
Calumet County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Appleton, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Calumet County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Calumet County, month by month
Calumet County sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 21° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 36° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Calumet County
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calumet County
Schools across Calumet County average a B−, better than 61% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sunrise ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Woodland SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Berry ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodland IntermediateA+ · 77% proficient
- Kiel MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Wrightstown MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Wrightstown HighB · 48% proficient
- Kimberly HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Brillion HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calumet County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calumet 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 Calumet County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Calumet County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 96% of counties and health care access beats 95%.
Common questions about living in Calumet County
Is Calumet County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calumet County ranks 104th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calumet County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $276,674. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $94,203 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Calumet County safe?
Yes, Calumet County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Calumet County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 16. That works out to about 166 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Calumet County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Appleton & Menasha, Sherwood, and Chilton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Calumet County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calumet County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calumet 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.
Calumet County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calumet County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calumet County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calumet County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calumet County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calumet 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.