Best PlacesLafayette County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County ranks 889th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lafayette County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 87% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 80% of counties
Where Lafayette County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 26% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 33% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lafayette County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lafayette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,043, 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 Lafayette County's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lafayette County
Lafayette 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 Lafayette County.
Who works in Lafayette County, and how
Work in Lafayette County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lafayette County
Lafayette County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lafayette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lafayette County growing, and who is moving in?
Lafayette County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grant County, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lafayette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lafayette County, month by month
Lafayette County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Lafayette County
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lafayette County
Schools across Lafayette County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Benton ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Cuba City ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Westview ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mineral Point MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Platteville MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Cuba City MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Mineral Point HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Pecatonica HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Platteville HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lafayette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lafayette 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 Lafayette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lafayette County
Is Lafayette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lafayette County ranks 889th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lafayette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $209,835. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $76,043 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is Lafayette County safe?
Yes, Lafayette County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Lafayette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lafayette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lafayette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lafayette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lafayette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lafayette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lafayette 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.