Best PlacesMarquette County, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marquette 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.
Marquette County ranks 1,832nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Marquette 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.
Marquette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marquette County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 75% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 74% of counties
Where Marquette County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marquette County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marquette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,471, 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 Marquette 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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marquette County
Marquette 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 Marquette County.
Who works in Marquette County, and how
Work in Marquette County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Marquette County
Marquette County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and more parkland per resident than 95% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Marquette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marquette County growing, and who is moving in?
Marquette County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Madison, WI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marquette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marquette County, month by month
Marquette County sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Marquette County
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marquette County
Schools across Marquette County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Endeavor ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Coloma ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Forest Lane Community SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wisconsin Dells Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Parkside SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Wayne Bartels MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Pardeeville HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Markesan HighC · 33% proficient
- Westfield Area HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marquette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marquette 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 Marquette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Marquette County
Is Marquette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marquette County ranks 1,832nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing 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 Marquette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $214,677. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $66,471 median income, cost of living beats 35% of counties.
Is Marquette County safe?
Yes, Marquette County is safer than 90% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
Compare Marquette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marquette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marquette 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.
Marquette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marquette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marquette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marquette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marquette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marquette 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.