Best PlacesJuneau County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Juneau County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Juneau County ranks 2,060th 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 Juneau 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.
Juneau County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Juneau County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 74% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 69% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 66% of counties
Where Juneau County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 22% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Juneau County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Juneau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,145, 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 Juneau County's effective rate of 1.35%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Juneau County
Juneau 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 Juneau County.
Who works in Juneau County, and how
Work in Juneau County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Juneau County
Juneau County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Juneau County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Juneau County growing, and who is moving in?
Juneau County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sauk County, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Juneau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Juneau County, month by month
Juneau County sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 33° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Juneau County
The nearest airport, La Crosse Regional, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Juneau County
Schools across Juneau County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lyndon Station ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- N-vision Learning CenterB · 48% proficient
- Grayside ElementaryB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wisconsin Dells Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Webb MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Wonewoc-center Junior HighC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Reedsburg Area HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Nekoosa HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Wisconsin Dells HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Juneau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Juneau 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 Juneau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Juneau County suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 65%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Juneau County
Is Juneau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Juneau County ranks 2,060th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Juneau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,798. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $68,145 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Juneau County safe?
Yes, Juneau County is safer than 65% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Juneau County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 12. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
Is Juneau County good for families?
Schools beat 22% of counties, crime safety beats 65%, and childcare runs $839 a month.
Compare Juneau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Juneau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Juneau 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.
Juneau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Juneau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Juneau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Juneau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Juneau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Juneau 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.