Best PlacesMarathon City, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marathon City, 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.
Marathon City ranks 4,557th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Marathon City
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.
Marathon City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marathon City ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
Where Marathon City ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,055 a month, better than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Marathon City
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marathon City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,709, 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 Marathon City's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 Marathon City
Marathon City runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Marathon City.
Who works in Marathon City, and how
Work in Marathon City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Marathon City
Marathon City has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Marathon City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Marathon City, month by month
Marathon City sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Marathon City
The nearest airport, Central Wisconsin, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marathon City
Schools across Marathon City average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Marathon ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marathon Venture AcademyA− · 53% proficient
- Edgar MiddleB · 45% proficient
- John Muir MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Marathon HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marathon City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marathon City 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 Marathon City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Marathon City
Is Marathon City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marathon City ranks 4,557th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and walkability, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marathon City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,709. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $84,709 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Marathon City safe?
Marathon City is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
Compare Marathon City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marathon City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marathon City 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.
Marathon City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marathon City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marathon City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marathon City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marathon City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marathon City 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.