Best PlacesDodge County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dodge County, 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.
Dodge County ranks 720th 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 Dodge 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 Dodge County
The parts of Dodge 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.
Mayville & Lomira
More residents vote and streets are more walkable.
Beaver Dam
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Fox Lake & Randolph
It is quieter and incomes run higher.
Watertown
Scores close to Fox Lake & Randolph, except that biking is better here.
Horicon & Juneau
Homes cost less, though local pay stretches less far.
Waupun
Health care is harder to reach and fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Dodge County run from about the 22nd to the 92nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dodge County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dodge County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Dodge County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dodge County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dodge County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,948, 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 Dodge County's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 Dodge County
Dodge 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 Dodge County.
Who works in Dodge County, and how
Work in Dodge 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 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dodge County
Dodge County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dodge County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dodge County growing, and who is moving in?
Dodge County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Milwaukee, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dodge County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dodge County, month by month
Dodge County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 20° | 14° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 36° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Dodge County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dodge County
Schools across Dodge County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow View ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Erin ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Allenton ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nature Hill IntermediateB+ · 51% proficient
- Honor IntermediateB+ · 50% proficient
- Horicon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Arrowhead HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Oconomowoc HighB− · 42% proficient
- Markesan HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dodge County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dodge 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 Dodge County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dodge County suits
Families
Schools land around the 44th percentile and crime safety beats 92%.
Common questions about living in Dodge County
Is Dodge County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dodge County ranks 720th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dodge County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,002. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,948 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Dodge County safe?
Yes, Dodge County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dodge County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 27 with lows near 14. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dodge County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mayville & Lomira, Beaver Dam, and Fox Lake & Randolph. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dodge County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dodge County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dodge 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.
Dodge County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dodge County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dodge County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dodge County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dodge County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dodge 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.