Best PlacesFitchburg, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fitchburg, 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.
Fitchburg ranks 562nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fitchburg
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.
Fitchburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fitchburg ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of cities
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of cities
Where Fitchburg ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 24% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 31% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 36% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 38% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fitchburg
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fitchburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,169, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Fitchburg's effective rate of 1.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fitchburg
Fitchburg runs younger 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 Fitchburg.
Who works in Fitchburg, and how
Work in Fitchburg centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Fitchburg
Fitchburg has more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Fitchburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fitchburg, month by month
Fitchburg sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Fitchburg
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fitchburg
Schools across Fitchburg average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie View ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Forest Edge Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Netherwood Knoll ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Mound MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Rome Corners IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
- Savanna Oaks MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- West HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Vel Phillips Memorial HighB · 48% proficient
- Oregon HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fitchburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fitchburg 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 Fitchburg against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Fitchburg suits
Common questions about living in Fitchburg
Is Fitchburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fitchburg ranks 562nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, heat safety, and cheap car insurance, 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 Fitchburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $408,321. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $96,169 median income, cost of living beats 62% of cities.
Is Fitchburg safe?
Fitchburg is safer than 36% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $358 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fitchburg?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 14. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of cities.
Is Fitchburg good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Compare Fitchburg with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fitchburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fitchburg 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.
Fitchburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fitchburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fitchburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fitchburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fitchburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fitchburg 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.