Best PlacesIsland Beach, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Island Beach, 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.
Island Beach ranks 2,432nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Island Beach
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.
Island Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Island Beach ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 183 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.0 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
Where Island Beach ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Island Beach
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Island Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,156, 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 Island Beach's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 Island Beach
Island Beach'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 Island Beach.
Who works in Island Beach, and how
Work in Island Beach centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Island Beach
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Island Beach.
What the weather is like in Island Beach, month by month
Island Beach sees roughly 183 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 21° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 36° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Island Beach
The nearest airport, Appleton International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Island Beach
Schools across Island Beach average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Winneconne ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Oaklawn ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winneconne MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Shattuck MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Merrill MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Neenah HighB · 48% proficient
- Winneconne HighB− · 43% proficient
- North HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Island Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Island Beach 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 Island Beach against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Island Beach
Is Island Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Island Beach ranks 2,432nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, the weather, and few empty homes, 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 Island Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,639. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $91,156 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Island Beach safe?
Yes, Island Beach is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Island Beach with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Island Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Island Beach 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.
Island Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Island Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Island Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Island Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Island Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Island Beach 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.