Best PlacesJohnson Creek, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Johnson Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Johnson Creek ranks 10,884th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Johnson Creek
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.
Johnson Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Johnson Creek ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Johnson Creek ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 21% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Johnson Creek
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnson Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,105, 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 Johnson Creek's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 Johnson Creek
Johnson Creek runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Johnson Creek.
Who works in Johnson Creek, and how
Work in Johnson Creek centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Johnson Creek
Johnson Creek has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Johnson Creek and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Johnson Creek, month by month
Johnson Creek sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Johnson Creek
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 45 miles away.
The best schools in and around Johnson Creek
Schools across Johnson Creek average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Webster ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Lake Mills ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- East ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Mills MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Riverside MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Mills HighC · 33% proficient
- Watertown HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Jefferson HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnson Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnson Creek 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 Johnson Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Johnson Creek
Is Johnson Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnson Creek ranks 10,884th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johnson Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,209. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $98,105 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Johnson Creek safe?
Johnson Creek is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $444 per resident a year.
Compare Johnson Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnson Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnson Creek 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.
Johnson Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnson Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnson Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnson Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnson Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnson Creek 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.