Best PlacesFairwater, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fairwater, 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.
Fairwater ranks 13,099th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Fairwater
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.
Fairwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fairwater ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 78% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Fairwater ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,022 a month, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fairwater
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,972, 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 Fairwater's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fairwater
Fairwater runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fairwater.
Who works in Fairwater, and how
Work in Fairwater centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Fairwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fairwater.
What the weather is like in Fairwater, month by month
Fairwater sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Fairwater
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fairwater
Schools across Fairwater average a B−, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Murray Park ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Brandon ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Green Lake ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rosendale-brandon MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Ripon MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Waupun Area Junior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Ripon HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Green Lake HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Markesan HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairwater 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 Fairwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fairwater
Is Fairwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairwater ranks 13,099th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low crime, and heat safety, 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 Fairwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,263. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $87,972 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Fairwater safe?
Yes, Fairwater is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare Fairwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairwater 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.
Fairwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairwater 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.