Best PlacesMcFarland, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McFarland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McFarland ranks 2,660th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McFarland
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.
McFarland's strengths and weaknesses
Where McFarland ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
Where McFarland ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McFarland
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McFarland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $112,930; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 McFarland's effective rate of 1.54%, 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 McFarland
McFarland'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 McFarland.
Who works in McFarland, and how
Work in McFarland centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in McFarland
McFarland has more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of McFarland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in McFarland, month by month
McFarland sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 22° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of McFarland
The nearest airport, Dane County Regional/Truax Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around McFarland
Schools across McFarland average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie View ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Forest Edge Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Waubesa IntermediateB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Mound MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Glacial Drumlin SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Rome Corners IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Oregon HighB− · 41% proficient
- Stoughton HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Mcfarland HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McFarland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McFarland 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 McFarland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McFarland
Is McFarland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McFarland ranks 2,660th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, biking, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McFarland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $402,160. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $112,930 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is McFarland safe?
McFarland is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
Compare McFarland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McFarland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McFarland 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.
McFarland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McFarland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McFarland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McFarland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McFarland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McFarland 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.