Best PlacesFall River, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fall River, 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.
Fall River ranks 11,043rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fall River
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.
Fall River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fall River ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of towns
Where Fall River ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fall River
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fall River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,336, 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 Fall River's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 Fall River
Fall River'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 Fall River.
Who works in Fall River, and how
Work in Fall River centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fall River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fall River.
What the weather is like in Fall River, month by month
Fall River 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 Fall River
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fall River
Schools across Fall River average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rio ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Fall River ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Randolph ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Columbus MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Waupun Area Junior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Fall River HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Columbus HighC− · 28% proficient
- Randolph HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fall River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fall River 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 Fall River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fall River
Is Fall River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fall River ranks 11,043rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fall River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,316. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $84,336 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Fall River safe?
Yes, Fall River is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
Compare Fall River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fall River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fall River 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.
Fall River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fall River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fall River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fall River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fall River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fall River 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.