Best PlacesMiddleton, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middleton, 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.
Middleton ranks 177th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Middleton
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 Middleton
The parts of Middleton, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Northside
Blackhawk
Middleton Hills
Amherst & Lakeview
Scores across Middleton run from about the 50th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Middleton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middleton ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of cities
Where Middleton ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 26% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,303 a month, better than only 31% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 38% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Middleton
A household needs to earn about $161,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middleton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,514, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Middleton'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 Middleton
Middleton's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Middleton.
Who works in Middleton, and how
Work in Middleton centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Middleton
Middleton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Middleton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Middleton, month by month
Middleton 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 Middleton
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 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middleton
Schools across Middleton average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Pope Farm ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Elm Lawn ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Arboretum ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waunakee MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Kromrey MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Glacier Creek MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Waunakee HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Middleton HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Vel Phillips Memorial HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middleton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middleton 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 Middleton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Middleton suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of cities and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Middleton
Is Middleton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middleton ranks 177th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, an educated workforce, and heat safety, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middleton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $558,304. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $119,514 median income, cost of living beats 82% of cities.
Is Middleton safe?
Middleton is safer than 46% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $331 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Middleton?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 14. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Middleton?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northside, Blackhawk, and Middleton Hills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Middleton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middleton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middleton 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.
Middleton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middleton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middleton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middleton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middleton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middleton 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.