Best PlacesDowning, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downing, 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.
Downing ranks 16,743rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downing
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.
Downing's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downing ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where Downing ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 26% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Downing
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downing home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,204, 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 Downing's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Downing
Downing runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Downing.
Who works in Downing, and how
Work in Downing centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Downing
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Downing.
What the weather is like in Downing, month by month
Downing sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Downing
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downing
Schools across Downing average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tiffany Creek ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Glenwood City ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glenwood City MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Boyceville MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Glenwood City HighC− · 30% proficient
- Boyceville HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downing school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downing 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 Downing against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Downing
Is Downing a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downing ranks 16,743rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low crime, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downing expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,479. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $73,204 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Downing safe?
Yes, Downing is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare Downing with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downing. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downing 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.
Downing detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downing: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downing: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downing: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downing: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downing 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.