Best PlacesKenosha County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kenosha 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.
Kenosha County ranks 570th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $87,375, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, property taxes, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Kenosha 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 Kenosha County
The parts of Kenosha 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.
Pleasant Prairie
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Paddock Lake
Streets are more car-dependent and more homes sit empty.
Twin Lakes, Trevor & Bristol
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Kenosha
Prices have run up more and schools score lower.
Kenosha County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kenosha County's strengths and weaknesses
Kenosha County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, property taxes, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kenosha County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
Where Kenosha County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kenosha County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenosha County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,375, 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 Kenosha County's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kenosha County
Kenosha County'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 Kenosha County.
Who works in Kenosha County, and how
Work in Kenosha County 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 Kenosha County
Kenosha County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kenosha County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kenosha County growing, and who is moving in?
Kenosha County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kenosha County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kenosha County, month by month
Kenosha County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Kenosha County
General Mitchell International sits about 26 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Kenosha County
Schools across Kenosha County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brompton SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Brighton ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Riverview ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mahone MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Bednarcik Junior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Lance MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeview Technology AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
- Wilmot HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Central HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenosha County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenosha 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 Kenosha County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kenosha County suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 61% of counties and health care access beats 69%.
Common questions about living in Kenosha County
Is Kenosha County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenosha County ranks 570th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, 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 Kenosha County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,241. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $87,375 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Kenosha County safe?
Yes, Kenosha County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kenosha County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 19. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kenosha County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pleasant Prairie, Paddock Lake, and Twin Lakes, Trevor & Bristol. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kenosha County good for families?
Schools beat 26% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,303 a month.
Is Kenosha County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kenosha County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenosha County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenosha 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.
Kenosha County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenosha County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenosha County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenosha County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenosha County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenosha 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.