Best PlacesGreen Lake County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Green Lake County, 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.
Green Lake County ranks 1,027th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Green Lake 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.
Green Lake County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Green Lake County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Green Lake County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 22% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Green Lake County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Green Lake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,675, 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 Lake County's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Lake County
Green Lake 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 Lake County.
Who works in Green Lake County, and how
Work in Green Lake 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 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Green Lake County
Green Lake County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Green Lake County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Green Lake County growing, and who is moving in?
Green Lake County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Green Lake 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 Lake County, month by month
Green Lake County sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Green Lake County
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Green Lake County
Schools across Green Lake County average a C+, better than 48% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Murray Park ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Green Lake ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Clay Lamberton ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ripon MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Berlin MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Markesan MiddleC+ · 37% 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 Green Lake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Green Lake 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 Lake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Green Lake County
Is Green Lake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Green Lake County ranks 1,027th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Green Lake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,521. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,675 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is Green Lake County safe?
Yes, Green Lake County is safer than 82% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Green Lake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Green Lake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Green Lake 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 Lake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Green Lake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Green Lake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Green Lake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Green Lake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Green Lake 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.