Best PlacesManitowoc, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manitowoc, 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.
Manitowoc ranks 1,316th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Manitowoc
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.
Manitowoc's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manitowoc ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of cities
Where Manitowoc ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of cities
- Household income$68,538 median, better than only 20% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Manitowoc
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manitowoc home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,538, 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 Manitowoc's effective rate of 1.45%, 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 Manitowoc
Manitowoc 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 Manitowoc.
Who works in Manitowoc, and how
Work in Manitowoc 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 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Manitowoc
Manitowoc has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Manitowoc and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Manitowoc, month by month
Manitowoc sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 52° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 80° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Manitowoc
The nearest airport, Green Bay/Austin Straubel International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Manitowoc
Schools across Manitowoc average a C−, better than 20% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Valders ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Schultz ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Jackson ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mishicot MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Valders MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Wilson MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Valders HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Reedsville Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Mishicot HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manitowoc school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manitowoc 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 Manitowoc against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Manitowoc suits
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of cities and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in Manitowoc
Is Manitowoc a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manitowoc ranks 1,316th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, short commutes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on health outcomes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manitowoc expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,915. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $68,538 median income, cost of living beats 34% of cities.
Is Manitowoc safe?
Manitowoc is safer than 45% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $349 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manitowoc?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 16. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Manitowoc good for families?
Schools beat 20% of cities, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,055 a month.
Compare Manitowoc with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manitowoc. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manitowoc 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.
Manitowoc detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manitowoc: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manitowoc: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manitowoc: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manitowoc: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manitowoc 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.