Best PlacesMarinette County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marinette County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Marinette County ranks 1,658th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marinette 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 Marinette County
The parts of Marinette 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.
Marinette & Peshtigo
Fewer homes sit empty, prices have run up less, and biking is better.
Niagara
Tree cover is thicker and more households have young kids.
Crivitz
It is quieter, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Marinette County run from about the 10th to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Marinette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marinette County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Marinette County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marinette County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marinette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,903, 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 Marinette County's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marinette County
Marinette 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 Marinette County.
Who works in Marinette County, and how
Work in Marinette 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 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Marinette County
Marinette County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Marinette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marinette County growing, and who is moving in?
Marinette County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Green Bay, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marinette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marinette County, month by month
Marinette County sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Marinette County
The nearest airport, Ford, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 157 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marinette County
Schools across Marinette County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Coleman ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Lena ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Peshtigo ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crivitz MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Oconto MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Lena MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Crivitz HighB− · 43% proficient
- Oconto HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Niagara HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marinette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marinette 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 Marinette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Marinette County suits
Families
Schools land around the 23rd percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Retirees
The weather beats 70% of counties and health care access beats 93%.
Common questions about living in Marinette County
Is Marinette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marinette County ranks 1,658th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cheap car insurance, and health care access, and lowest on a weak job market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marinette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,028. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,903 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Marinette County safe?
Yes, Marinette County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marinette County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 14. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Marinette County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Marinette & Peshtigo, Niagara, and Crivitz. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Marinette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marinette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marinette 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.
Marinette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marinette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marinette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marinette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marinette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marinette 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.