Best PlacesDarlington, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Darlington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Darlington ranks 14,035th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Darlington
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.
Darlington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Darlington ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute21.8 minutes each way, better than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where Darlington ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 40% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 40% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 42% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Darlington
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Darlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,419, 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 Darlington'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Darlington
Darlington runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Darlington.
Who works in Darlington, and how
Work in Darlington centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Darlington
Darlington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Darlington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Darlington, month by month
Darlington sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Darlington
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Darlington
Schools across Darlington average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Darlington Elementary/middleB · 48% proficient
- Black Hawk ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Shullsburg ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Black Hawk MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Shullsburg Junior HighC− · 30% proficient
- Argyle MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Mineral Point HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Darlington HighC− · 30% proficient
- Shullsburg HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Darlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Darlington 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 Darlington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Darlington
Is Darlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Darlington ranks 14,035th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cheap car insurance, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Darlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $203,766. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $71,419 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Darlington safe?
Darlington is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Darlington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Darlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Darlington 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.
Darlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Darlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Darlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Darlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Darlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Darlington 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.