Best PlacesMilwaukee, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Milwaukee, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Milwaukee ranks 11,880th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Milwaukee
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.
Milwaukee's strengths and weaknesses
Where Milwaukee ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
Where Milwaukee ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Milwaukee
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Milwaukee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $74,349; 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 Milwaukee's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Milwaukee
Milwaukee runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Milwaukee.
Who works in Milwaukee, and how
Work in Milwaukee centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Milwaukee
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Milwaukee.
What the weather is like in Milwaukee, month by month
Milwaukee sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Milwaukee
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Milwaukee
Schools across Milwaukee average an A−, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Newton-ransom SchA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Abington Heights MsA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Abington Heights HsA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Milwaukee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Milwaukee
Is Milwaukee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Milwaukee ranks 11,880th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, health care access, and fast internet, and lowest on a weak job market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Milwaukee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,380. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $74,349 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Milwaukee safe?
Yes, Milwaukee is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare Milwaukee with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Milwaukee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Milwaukee 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.
Milwaukee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Milwaukee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Milwaukee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Milwaukee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Milwaukee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Milwaukee 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.