Best PlacesMerton, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Merton, 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.
Merton ranks 216th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Merton
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.
Merton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Merton ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$168,622 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Merton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Merton
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $168,622, 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 Merton's effective rate of 1.02%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Merton
Merton's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Merton.
Who works in Merton, and how
Work in Merton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Merton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merton.
What the weather is like in Merton, month by month
Merton sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 21° | 16° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 80° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Merton
General Mitchell International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.9 million passengers in 2025, with 66 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Merton
Schools across Merton average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Richmond ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Merton PrimaryA · 68% proficient
- Swallow ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Merton IntermediateA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Arrowhead HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merton 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 Merton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Merton
Is Merton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merton ranks 216th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, what local pay buys, and civic engagement, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $589,669. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $168,622 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Merton safe?
Yes, Merton is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare Merton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merton 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.
Merton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merton 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.