Best PlacesColumbia County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Columbia 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.
Columbia County ranks 751st 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 Columbia 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 Columbia County
The parts of Columbia 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.
Lodi
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Poynette
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Columbus & Fall River
Tree cover is thinner and it is noisier.
Pardeeville
Crime runs lower.
Portage & Wisconsin Dells
Homes cost less and biking is better.
Scores across Columbia County run from about the 18th to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Columbia County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbia County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Household income$87,653 median, better than 85% of counties
Where Columbia County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 24% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Columbia County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbia County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,653, 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 Columbia County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Columbia County
Columbia County 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 Columbia County.
Who works in Columbia County, and how
Work in Columbia 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 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Columbia County
Columbia County has more parkland per resident than 88% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Columbia County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Columbia County growing, and who is moving in?
Columbia County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Madison, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Columbia County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Columbia County, month by month
Columbia County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 20° | 14° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Columbia County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Columbia County
Schools across Columbia County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lewiston ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Rio ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Poynette ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- De Forest MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Poynette MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Wisconsin Dells Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Lodi HighB− · 45% proficient
- Pardeeville HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Fall River HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbia County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbia 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 Columbia County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Columbia County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 91%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Columbia County
Is Columbia County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbia County ranks 751st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Columbia County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,901. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $87,653 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Columbia County safe?
Yes, Columbia County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Columbia County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 14. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Columbia County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lodi, Poynette, and Columbus & Fall River. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Columbia County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbia County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbia 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.
Columbia County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbia County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbia County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbia County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbia County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbia 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.