Best PlacesDane County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dane 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.
Dane County ranks 129th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $97,478, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, noise, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Dane 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 Dane County
The parts of Dane 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.
Middleton
More adults hold degrees, tree cover is thicker, and local pay stretches further.
Cross Plains, Mazomanie & Dane
Streets are more car-dependent and biking is worse.
Verona & Mount Horeb
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Sun Prairie
Advertised internet is faster, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Cottage Grove & Deerfield
Incomes run higher, though schools score lower.
Fitchburg & Oregon
Fewer homes sit empty.
Stoughton & McFarland
It is quieter.
DeForest, Waunakee & Windsor
Madison
Health care is harder to reach and prices have run up more.
Dane 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.
Dane County's strengths and weaknesses
Dane County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Population health is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Few empty homes and an educated workforce follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, noise, and childcare costs hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Dane County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of counties
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
Where Dane County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dane County
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $97,478, 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 Dane County's effective rate of 1.59%, 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 Dane County
Dane County 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 Dane County.
Who works in Dane County, and how
Work in Dane County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Dane County
Dane County has more parkland per resident than 95% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dane County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dane County growing, and who is moving in?
Dane County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Milwaukee, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dane County, month by month
Dane County 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 Dane County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dane County
Schools across Dane County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shorewood Hills ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Randall Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Van Hise ElementaryA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamilton MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Waunakee MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Waunakee IntermediateA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- West HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Waunakee HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Middleton HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dane County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dane 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 Dane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dane County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dane County
Is Dane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dane County ranks 129th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, few empty homes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $416,004. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $97,478 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Dane County safe?
Dane County is safer than 37% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $413 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dane County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 14. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dane County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Middleton, Cross Plains, Mazomanie & Dane, and Verona & Mount Horeb. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Dane County good for families?
Schools beat 68% of counties, crime safety beats 37%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Is Dane County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Dane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dane 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.
Dane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dane 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.