Best PlacesGreen County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Green County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Green County ranks 601st 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 Green 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 Green County
The parts of Green 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.
New Glarus
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Albany
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Monroe
Prices have run up less and homes cost less.
Brodhead
Advertised internet is faster, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Green County run from about the 19th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Green County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Green County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of counties
Where Green County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 33% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Green County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Green County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,427, 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 Green County's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 Green County
Green 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 Green County.
Who works in Green County, and how
Work in Green County 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Green County
Green County has more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Green County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Green County growing, and who is moving in?
Green County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Madison, WI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Green County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Green County, month by month
Green County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Green County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Green County
Schools across Green County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- New Glarus ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Northside ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Belleville ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Glarus MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Monticello MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- J C Mckenna MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Oregon HighB− · 41% proficient
- Evansville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Belleville HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Green County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Green 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 Green County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Green County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Green County
Is Green County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Green County ranks 601st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Green County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,470. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $86,427 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Green County safe?
Yes, Green County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $315 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Green County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 17. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Green County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Glarus, Albany, and Monroe. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Green County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Green County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Green 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.
Green County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Green County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Green County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Green County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Green County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Green 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.