Best PlacesDane, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dane, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dane ranks 5,117th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dane
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.
Dane's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dane ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$107,282 median, better than 89% of towns
Where Dane ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,302 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dane
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dane home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $107,282; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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's effective rate of 1.28%, 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
Dane'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 Dane.
Who works in Dane, and how
Work in Dane centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Dane
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dane.
What the weather is like in Dane, month by month
Dane 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
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dane
Schools across Dane average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sunset Ridge ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Waunakee Prairie ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Park ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waunakee MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Glacier Creek MiddleA · 59% proficient
- De Forest MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Waunakee HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Middleton HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Lodi HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dane school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dane 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dane
Is Dane a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dane ranks 5,117th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dane expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $413,817. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $107,282 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Dane safe?
Yes, Dane is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Dane with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dane. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dane 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dane: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dane: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dane: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dane: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dane 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.